Clash with a titan
by Trainer Theta
Summary: After a trainer's pokemon gets badly injured, Ash Ketchum heads up to Mt.Silver to find the mysterious trainer responsible. When he gets there, he gets more than he bargained for. Rated T for violence and character death early on.
1. The Encounter

**I got the idea for this fic, so i thought I'd give it a go at writing it. Hopefully I've done a good job, but that's for you guys to decide. A big thanks to Javanos for being a great beta reader for me. If you've got a minute, be sure to check out some of his awesome fics. I'll let you get on with the story now. Enjoy.**

**I don't own pokemon. **

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"Ash Ketchum, your Pokémon are all healed," the pink haired nurse announced through the intercom. A young trainer stood up from the soft Pokémon centre sofa and walked towards the reception desk, greeting the nurse with a smile. The Pokémon centre wasn't anything fancy. A few plush green sofas were scattered either side of the front desk and a series of green videophones lined the creamy white back wall either side of the desk.

"Thanks nurse Joy," he said. The nurse handed him a tray of 5 Pokeballs, on top of the tray was his trusty yellow mouse companion, Pikachu. Ash retrieved his pokeballs and clipped each one onto his belt, before pulling his black shirt down over the belt, concealing the red and white balls.

"Pikachu!" the yellow mouse exclaimed, as it jumped onto its trainers shoulder. He greeted the little mouse with a quick scratch under its chin, earning a soft coo from the Pokémon. Ash smiled, before briskly walking outside the centre and was greeted by the golden glow of the morning sun. His feet stopped on the pavement outside of the centre. At either side of Ash was a bank of grass, with two benches sitting on top. The grass danced elegantly in the gentle breeze, while the sun shone down, causing the morning dew to glisten a beautiful shade of forest green. He glanced down the path, hoping to spot the familiar face he had been waiting for. After journeying through the Sinnoh region, Ash, Dawn and Brock had all briefly returned home. However, at the mention of a Pokémon contest grand festival being held in the Kanto region, Dawn jumped at the news and hopped onto the first available ferry. The budding coordinator arranged to meet Ash in the Indigo plateau Pokémon centre, since it was to be the site of the grand festival. However, the blue haired coordinator was yet to show up, causing a very impatient Ash to pace outside the front door of the Pokémon centre.

"Grrrrrrrrrr where is she!" Ash suddenly exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air and causing Pikachu to fall off his shoulder. The sudden outburst earned him a few discourteous looks from passers-by, but Ash didn't care. All he cared about was seeing his friend. Ash continued his pacing. 'Typical Dawn. When I tell her to be on time, she never is. She's probably still in the Sinnoh region, fixing her morning bed-head,' he mused. The sound of crying caused Ash to look up, averting his gaze from the ground below and he saw a young boy wearing a blue jumper and matching blue jeans, running towards him. In the boy's arms was a Pokémon, though what kind Ash couldn't tell since the boy's arms were covering it. The boy rushed past him and into the Pokémon centre. Sensing something was wrong, Ash followed. He walked back into the centre in pursuit of the boy. He spotted the boy at the counter, handing the ever-present nurse his Pokémon. Ash walked towards them, and saw a sight that made his stomach lurch. In the nurses arms was a Riolu, however, this particular Riolu had been injured pretty bad. Blood trickled out of its open mouth and its body was covered in deep cuts and gashes. In places, flesh was completely seared. Its limbs dangled limp towards the ground. Ash turned towards the boy, who was on the verge of tears.

"What happened?" he inquired. The boy looked up, finding the source of the voice. He looked at Ash and saw the concern on his face. He brushed a strand of brown hair out of his eyes before replying.

"Me and Riolu went up to Mt. Silver to train and when we reached the peak, there was someone already there. He didn't say anything, but he sent out a Pokémon. We had a battle and…a-and…" the boy collapsed in a heap on the floor, crying hysterically. 'What kind of trainer would do this to a Pokémon?' Ash thought, anger filling his head.

"Pika?" the little mouse asked. He noticed Ash's fists clench into balls. It was an unusual sight to see his trainer to become so angry. Ash started shaking, then, without a word, he ran out of the Pokémon centre.

"Pika pi?" Pikachu asked, curious as to know where they were going. Ash however didn't reply. Rage filled his head and warped his judgement. It didn't take Pikachu long to find out where they were going, however, as the figure of the huge mountain towering above them seemed to be getting closer. 'Whoever this trainer is, I'm going to find them' Ash thought. The only thing on his mind was showing this mysterious trainer a thing or two. He kept running towards the towering mountain, faster and faster, as if this was his only chance to confront the trainer. The memory of that poor Riolu haunted his mind, fuelling him to keep going. He came to a halt just outside a cave entrance. He glanced back towards the Pokémon centre.

"Don't worry kid, this trainer will get what's coming to him," Ash muttered, causing Pikachu to cock its head. It scared him to see his trainer so angry. Taking a deep breath, Ash entered the cave, allowing the cave mouth to swallow him into the darkness that lay ahead. Ash had travelled through Mt. Silver before, and knew the caves like the back of his hand. Well, he thought he did. He fumbled around in the darkness, his confidence of finding his way out had vanished into the blackness of the cave. It was hopeless. He was good and lost in this monstrous cave. If only there was light.

"Light…That's it!" he exclaimed, earning a small squeak from the curious mouse Pokémon.

"Pikachu, use iron tail," Ash ordered, thinking the brightness of his tail could help guide them to the exit. Pikachu, understanding its master's request, complied and seconds later, the dingy blackness of the cave was evaporated by the white glow of Pikachu's tail. Ash continued onwards, occasionally knocking a Golbat or a Geodude, until finally he saw a light. He rushed towards the light, desperate to get out of the suffocating darkness behind him. Closer and closer the light came, until Ash rushed through the opening and found himself on top of a snow swept mountain-side. The calming gentle morning breeze was gone. In its place was a howling wind that ripped through the sky. A shiver ran down his spine as the extreme chill of the high atmosphere invaded his body, like a thousand Dewgongs using ice beam. A sheet of snow obscured his vision, the snowflakes danced around him, haunting him, inviting him to get lost in the thick blanket of glistening white. Shielding his eyes, Ash pushed on, determined to find this trainer. His footsteps sounded like canon-shots as they broke the new fallen snow with a loud crunch. Pikachu, meanwhile, hid inside his backpack, avoiding the cold. Sometimes his trainer was really careless. After what seemed like an eternity of fighting the army of snow flakes, Ash caught a glimpse of red. He moved forward, and the shape of a tall boy took form, his red jacket billowing in the ferocious wind. His hat was pulled down, shielding his eyes from the snow. He stood there, gazing at the vast and vicious beauty of the mountain range below him.

"Hey!" Ash yelled, trying to make his voice heard through the howling wind. The trainer turned around, revealing the face of a teenage boy. His eyes however, were colder than the breath of an Articuno. He stood there, examining Ash, before raising his arm, revealing a pokeball in his hand. He threw the red and white ball into the air and with a brief pop, the ball opened, revealing a crimson red light. The light ran down to the snow covered ground, and a figure began to emerge. First its head sprouted, revealing two pointy ears. Next came a long tail, in the shape of a lightning bolt. The figure sprouted 2 small feet, closely followed by a pair of small arms. When the light disappeared, Ash was looking at a very familiar face.

"Pikachu!" the Pokémon yelled, rearing into battle stance. At the exclamation of the Pokémon, Ash's Pikachu poked his head out of the warmth of Ash's bag. Spotting the Pikachu, Ash's Pikachu leaped out and onto the ground in front of Ash, who watched the scene unfold with a confused look on his face. He glanced up at the trainer in red, wondering what his next action would be. However, he merely glanced at Ash and smirked, with a smile that was as cold and unforgiving as the mountain that they were on. Ash shivered, but for once, it was not from the extreme cold around him. He glanced down at his Pikachu, and saw it glaring at the other trainers Pikachu. He glanced back up at the trainer.

"Are you the trainer that injured that Riolu?" he asked. The trainer continued to silently smirk at him. Ash glanced down at the trainers Pikachu. It was slightly bigger than his, and had the exact same pair of cold, bitter eyes as its trainer. It's chilling gaze was firmly fixed on Ash's Pikachu.

"So, you want to battle?" Ash asked. The trainer didn't reply. Confused, Ash turned to his Pikachu, searching for some answers. Pikachu's gaze however, remained fixated on the other trainers Pikachu. The two Pokémon were staring each other down, trying to intimidate the other.

"Pikachu, you ready?" he asked. The rodent responded with a nod of its head.

"Alright, let's go!" Ash yelled, punching his fist into the air.

"Pikachu!" the electric type screamed. Sparks flew out from its red cheeks, and its tail was poised above its head, ready to launch the first attack.

"This battle is for that poor Riolu back at the Pokémon centre, so be sure to win it!" he told his partner, who responded with a nod of its head. He looked across at the mysterious trainer. He hadn't said a single thing so far. He continued to stare at Ash, coldly. Ash had never seen a trainer like this before. And quite frankly, it unnerved him to know that a Pokémon trainer could be so cold. He was like Paul times 10.

"What's your name?" Ash asked, hoping to get a response out of the trainer. Nothing. The trainer continued to smirk at him in complete silence. 'How is he going to battle if he doesn't talk?' he wondered. He dismissed the thought with a shake of his head. The only way to find out was by experience. He turned to his Pokémon.

"Okay Pikachu, use thunderbolt," Ash ordered. Pikachu charged up electricity in its cheeks, sparks flying around with a crackling hiss.

"Pikaaaaaaaaaa… Chuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" It exclaimed. A bolt of thunder flew out of the little mouse, its path firmly set on the other Pikachu. The snowflakes fled from the bolt of pure electrical energy, clearing a path. And, with a loud crackle that echoed through the sky, contact was made. Several seconds later, the thunderbolt wore off and, surprisingly, the trainers Pikachu was stood there laughing. Ash glanced up at the trainer nervously, and saw the same smirk as always. The attack didn't do a thing. To say Ash was shocked was like saying Moltres was a little hot headed. He looked at his Pikachu, who shared the same look of shock. Shaking his head, Ash turned back to the trainers Pikachu.

"Pikachu, try using quick attack!" He commanded. Digging its feet into the snow, Pikachu raced off with a white beam of glistening light following its wake. When the attack was about to make contact, the trainers Pikachu suddenly vanished, leaving dust and snow to fly up, covering its escape path. Ash's Pikachu skidded to a halt, looking for the opponent. A few seconds later, a thunderbolt charged through the sky like a dragon chasing its prey, and made direct contact with Pikachu.

"Pikachu!" Ash yelled. His reply was a cry of pain from the little mouse. The thunderbolt suddenly stopped its onslaught and was replaced by the opponents Pikachu flying through the air towards Ash's Pikachu. Its tail was glowing a shiny steel colour, reflecting off the still falling snow. Ash could only watch in horror as the iron-like tail was slammed into his Pikachu. A cloud of dust and snow flew into the air, covering the mountain in a thick blanket of grey.

"Pikachuuuuuu!" Ash yelled. He couldn't see a thing, as he desperately ran into the smoke looking for his best friend. After a few seconds, the cloud dispersed, revealing a crater that had to be at least 30 feet deep. Ash ran over to the crater, and nearly fainted. Lying at the bottom was Pikachu. Its body was completely limp. Blood trickled out of what was left of its right ear, and gathered in a sticky pool of crimson next to the poor Pokémon. Ash reached down and placed a hand on its chest, and felt the steady pulse of its heart beating gradually slowing down to a faint whisper.

"Pikachu…" Ash muttered. His voice became shaky. His eyes glistened as newly formed tears dripped off his face and onto the little mouse companion below. Its body was heavily beat. Deep gashes lined its stomach and back from the impact. Ash grabbed Pikachu, before proceeding to climb back out of the crater. He had to get Pikachu to the Pokémon centre, before it was too late. He reached the entrance back into the cave, and then he turned to face the trainer.

"How could you…HOW COULD YOU?" he screamed. His tears of sorrow were replaced by those of anger and hatred towards the trainer in red. The trainer stood there. His smirk was gone, his cold gaze fixated on Pikachu, lying in its owners arms. Still, he remained silent. He returned his Pikachu before turning round to face the mountain range once more, leaving Ash out of his sight. Ash turned around; forcing the anger he felt to subside, before running into the cave to find his way back to the Pokémon centre…before it was too late.

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**Whaddya think? Leave a review to tell me your thoughts and be sure to add this to your alerts so you know when the next chapter is up. I won't have an upload schedule as such, but I'll try to upload the chapters as soon as I've finished them. R&R please :)**


	2. The Change

**Well, here it is. The second chapter. And its pretty much twice as long as the first. Hope you enjoy it :D**

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Run. That was his only thought as he raced through the rocky mountain path towards the safe haven known as the Pokémon centre. He glanced down at the little yellow mouse in his arms, which fuelled him to run even faster. If he wanted to save the poor Pokémon, he had to run as fast as his legs would allow. Ignoring the tears pouring down his face, he kept running, pounding the earth below him, and finally he caught a glimpse of the red and white building he was desperately looking for. Leaving the mountain in his shadow from the slowly setting sun, he continued his dash towards the building he desperately needed. Before long, his head became shadowed by the giant pokeball nestled on top of the building. Finally, he made it. He crashed through the front doors and ran straight towards the pink haired nurse, who had a look of complete shock etched on her face at the sight of a Pokémon trainer charging through the front doors of the building holding a critically injured Pikachu.

"Please Nurse Joy; you've got to help Pikachu!" Ash sobbed, tears streaming down his face, pouring to the white tiled floor below. Nurse Joy carefully grabbed Pikachu and cradled it in her gentle arms, before running through a door behind the counter, signalling Ash to follow with a flick of her wrist. Ash nodded and followed the nurse down a white-washed hallway, passing by various doors leading to different areas of the small centre. After a minute or so, the two reached their destination: the emergency room. She led Ash into the room, before she laid Pikachu down on the metal operating table lying in the middle of the room. She turned back to Ash.

"Please could you wait outside? It's important that you don't get in the way," she explained. Ash wanted to protest, but after risking another glance at the heavily beaten Pokémon, he nodded his head and slowly retreated out of the room as the door closed behind him with a gentle thud. He shuffled towards the window next to the door to look over his best friend. His breathing quickened at the sight of the poor mouse and before long, the window became cloudy as his breath condensed into a shallow mist, which hugged the window. But, with a quick swish of his hand, Ash cleared the glass to continue gazing at his friend. The normally warm, caring eyes of the young trainer became shrouded in guilt, regret, and more importantly, hatred towards the trainer responsible.

"Pikachu…" he muttered, his voice incredibly shaky. He looked past the tears still free-falling towards the floor, as Nurse Joy appeared to be hooking Pikachu up to some sort of life support system. Wires were connected to Pikachu's arms and legs, and a screen lit up at the side of it. The room was littered with various metallic machines and instruments often used in surgery, yet only a few were actually used as the nurse frantically dashed around the room. Pikachu remained still on the hard, steel table. A very faint pulse could be seen on the system next to the little mouse.

"Pikachu, please be ok. I didn't mean for you to get hurt. Please, pull through this" He begged to his best friend. The nurse continued to rush around the room, pushing buttons on the various different machines, doing her best to keep the Pokémon alive.

"Ash?" a voice inquired behind him. He spun around to find the source of the voice. The first thing he spotted was long, blue hair, falling down the girls shoulders like a powerful, yet elegant waterfall. His gaze shifted downwards, until he spotted the familiar face belonging to the coordinator known as Dawn Berlitz. Her sapphire blue eyes were filled with curiosity towards the boy.

"Dawn?" he asked. The girl nodded and beamed a smile towards him.

"Hey, Ash. Long time no see. Where were you? I was waiting for over an hour for you to get here. What are you doing outside the emergency room?" she replied, showering Ash in questions. Ash stared at her; his bottom lip began to tremble. He risked one more glance through the window overlooking the battered Pokémon before he broke down into tears. He collapsed on the floor, sobbing and muttering some incoherent sentence. Dawn stood watching the scene before her, stunned, before she rushed over to him and knelt down next to him. Seeing him cry broke her heart. She reached her arms around his shoulder and pulled him into a hug, trying to be of some comfort. Ash turned into her chest, sobbing hysterically. His tears dyed her black blouse an even darker shade. Dawn cradled his head, comforting the sobbing boy. She leaned closer to his head.

"Ash?" she whispered into his ear with the most soothing voice she could muster, causing the distraught trainer to look up.

"What's wrong?" she asked him. Her voice was gentle, soothing yet full of worry for the trainer. Ash wiped his eyes, clearing his vision enough to allow Dawn's very wet blouse clinging to her to be seen through his blurry, tear filled eyes. He quickly pulled back after realising he was staring at her chest, and broke their embrace, a light blush on his face. Dawn however didn't seem to notice or care. She continued staring at the boy, waiting patiently for his answer. He sat there on the floor, gaining the strength to tell his friend what had happened. Dawn continued staring at the raven haired trainer, concern present in her beautiful blue eyes. What seemed like an eternity passed, still Dawn remained silent, waiting for the trainer to talk in his own time. Taking a deep breath, Ash turned his hurt-felt gaze towards her, and began telling her what happened. He told her all about the trainer with the Riolu, his journey up to Mt. Silver, his encounter with the trainer in red. When he reached the part with Pikachu becoming critically injured, he broke down into tears once again. Dawn listened to the story intently, growing increasingly angry at the mysterious trainer who caused this much pain to her best friend. She stood up and glanced into the room containing the electric-type. She took into account the very slow pulse, visible on the monitor at Pikachu's side. She turned to Ash, who was still weeping on the floor, and offered her hand. Ash stared at her for a while, before accepting the aid, and with a quick tug, Dawn managed to pull the boy to his feet.

"Nurse Joy is doing everything she can to help Pikachu. He'll be fine," she convinced him. He shook his head.

"This is all my fault…" He muttered. He fixated his gaze to his shoes, allowing a few solitary tears to drip to the floor.

"Ash Ketchum, this is none of your fault. You love your Pokémon and you would never intentionally harm them," she began, doing her best to soothe her upset friend. Her speech was cut short, however, as the boy started shaking. His fists clenched into balls at the sides of his thighs.

"Ash?" she asked, growing increasingly concerned. He shot his head to her, his eyes red and bloodshot from crying.

"What do you know? You weren't there! I forced Pikachu to battle and look how hurt he is!" He yelled. Dawn was utterly shocked. She never felt this scared around him, but his sudden outburst caused fear to well up in her mind. She looked into his eyes, begging for some kindness to still be present behind all the rage the boy was feeling. Whenever she looked into his deep brown eyes, she felt calm and serene. However, as she continued to search them desperately, the normally gentle nature of the trainer had turned sour. His eyes were cold and bitter, sending chills down the coordinator's spine. Her eyes began to water. Her friend had changed. He was no longer the gentle, loving person he normally was. She backed away, bumping into the egg-shaped Pokémon that assisted Nurse Joy, before she turned and ran back down the hallway and out of the centre, her hands covering her eyes, as to not let anyone see her in this state. Ash watched her retreating figure, his eyes returning to their soft and gentle state. Regret welled up in his mind for shouting at the coordinator like that.

"Dawn, I'm sorry…" he muttered before he fixed his gaze back onto his friend. Rage and shame clouded his vision as he stared at his best friend, utterly weak and critically hurt. The door opened and the pink haired nurse approached him.

"Pikachu's stable for now, but he needs plenty of rest. You can go in to see him if you want," she smiled. Ash nodded before walking through the door that leads into the emergency room. He looked at his friend, lying limp on the silver table. His head was supported by a pillow, and his body was wrapped in a blue blanket. Ash sat down in the chair next to the table, and kept a watchful eye on the yellow mouse. The only sound that could be heard was the gentle beep of Pikachu's pulse being displayed on the screen to his side. Ash reached out and placed a hand on Pikachu's body, feeling its chest slowly rise and fall in a steady rhythm.

"Pika…"the mouse stirred upon his touch. Ash's eyes lit up, hopeful for the little mouse.

"Pikachu?" he asked, rocking the Pokémon gently. Pikachu's ears twitched, and its eyes slowly opened.

"Pi?" it shot up on all fours, but quickly collapsed again as searing pain coursed its way through its delicate little body. Ash rested his hand on its head, scratching behind its ears gently.

"Pikachu, try to relax" Ash said. Pikachu nodded, and relaxed its gaze. Its eyes closed and once again, it remained limp as sleep embraced it, allowing dreams to flood its mind. Ash relaxed slightly, after hearing his best friend. He sat back in his chair, and for the first time since his encounter with the mysterious trainer, he smiled. He glanced out the window, seeing the sky lit up in various pinks and oranges that decorated the sky like an oil-work painting. He'd been up on the mountain all day. He turned again to the little mouse, resting peacefully on the table. Ash reached for the blanket that had been thrown off the Pokémon after he awoke, and gently placed it over Pikachu, covering its many hideous cuts and gashes from the previous endeavour atop Mt. Silver.

"Good-night Pikachu," he uttered.

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_He was standing on a mountain top, which looked strangely familiar. He glanced down, to see a yellow mouse Pokémon stood by his side._

"_Pikachu!" you're ok!" Ash joyfully exclaimed. He reached down and picked Pikachu up. However, as he gazed into his friends eyes, they shared an all too familiar coldness in them. The normally black pupils were red, and filled with hate. It smirked at Ash, before releasing a 10,000 volt charge into the unsuspecting trainer. In pain, Ash dropped the Pokémon, who landed elegantly in the snow, before bouncing off ahead of him. _

"_Pikachu!" Ash yelled, curious about his companion's sudden change. He gave chase, charging through the snow clinging to his feet, trying to take him into its cold grasp. Finally, Ash saw a glimpse of yellow through the torrent of attacking hail and sleet. _

"_Pikachu!" he called out. Getting no reply, he walked further until the familiar glimpse of a red jacket flashed across his eyes. Panicking, he ran forward until he saw the trainer in red holding his Pikachu over the mountain side, its limbs dangling weakly as gravity pulled down on them. _

"_Let go of Pikachu!" Ash yelled and charged at the trainer, worried for Pikachu's life. With a cold smirk that rivalled the chill of the snow, the trainer dropped Pikachu, and the yellow figure of the mouse plummeted silently towards the hard earth below. _

"_Pikachu!"_

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Ash shot up from his chair, eyes snapping open and panting like a rabid Houndour. He felt the tip of his fore-head, wiping the sticky substance from his brow. He was dripping in a cold sweat. He glanced over to Pikachu, still resting peacefully. 'What a dream…' he thought. The recent events atop Mt. Silver were really starting to get to his mind, playing with his sub-conscious like a Skitty plays with its tail.

"Well well, you're finally awake," a voice cheerfully said. Ash glanced around, looking for the source of the voice, and finding it in the ever-present Nurse Joy. She was smiling at him with a smile almost as bright as the lights overhead were shining, casting their glow upon the would-be shadowy room.

"Oh, hi Nurse Joy. Has Pikachu woken up at all?" he asked, dreading the answer. The nurse shook her head, her pink hair swishing about either side of her head from underneath her white hat.

"No change so far. We're doing everything we can for him," she replied. Ash looked down to the floor, seemingly interested in the gap between the tiles. Once again, he felt an over-whelming feeling of hatred and guilt when his thoughts drifted to the blue haired coordinator he yelled at. He turned to look at the nurse, his eyes filled with fear and dread.

"Nurse Joy has a trainer called Dawn checked in?" he asked. The nurse touched her finger to her chin, deep in thought.

"I believe so, does she have long blue hair?" she inquired, making sure she has the right person. Ash nodded hastily; hope filling his mind that the coordinator wasn't too mad at him for yelling at her.

"Before I came to check on Pikachu, I believe she was sat in reception," she answered. Ash smiled cheerfully.

"Could you look after Pikachu for a little while, I need to go talk to her," he asked. She merely smiled. It was her job after all, to look after sick and injured Pokémon. Ash dashed out of the room, hoping the coordinator was still there. He ran down the light filled hallway towards reception, before bursting through the end of the corridor and being greeted by a hard object slamming into his legs, and, with a groan, collapsed in a heap on the floor. He raised his head to find his attacker, only to realise that in his haste, he charged straight into the reception desk and toppled over it in an unfortunate heap. Stacks of paper were thrown onto the floor, littering the floor with the white sheets. He leaned his head back with a groan.

"Oohhh, who put a desk there?" he whimpered to no-one in particular. He opened his eyes to see none other than Dawn standing over him, a look of utter confusion on her face. She helped him up and he returned the gesture with a "thanks".

"So, Ash, are you feeling ok?" she asked, trying to dodge the bigger question as to why he was as cold as he was back at the emergency room. Ash smiled at her, but his smile couldn't hide the guilt etched into his eyes, which Dawn immediately picked up on.

"Listen, Dawn, I'm sorry I snapped at you back there. It's just…with Pikachu hurt and all…" he muttered, hoping the blunette could hear him. She smiled at his attempt at an apology.

"It's ok. I should've known better. You care so much for your Pokémon," she chuckled. She looked into his eyes, and they harboured the familiar warmth and comfort that they usually have. She relaxed a little after seeing his friend back to normal. She continued to gaze into his auburn eyes, wishing she could stare at the warmth radiating orbs for the rest of her life.

"Uh, Dawn, are you ok?" he asked, after realising the blunette had been staring at him for a solid minute. Dawn blushed, before glancing away in hopes of concealing her red face.

"S-sorry," she stammered.

"So, when did you get here?" he asked, hoping she hadn't been waiting long for the trainer. Dawn thought for a moment, her finger on her cheek, before replying.

"I got here around lunch time. I asked Nurse Joy if you were here but she said you left in a hurry to meet some trainer," she answered. Ash felt guilty for rushing off like that without an explanation, and hid his eyes from the girl. Dawn, as usual, sensed Ash's guilt and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"It's ok. I should've got here sooner anyway. But hey, you don't get to look this good without a little effort," she giggled, winking at him. Ash smiled, before glancing at the front desk, which looked as if a Fearow had been experimenting with a gust attack.

"We should really clean this up…" he muttered, but before he could proceed with the tidying, the intercom crackled to life.

"Ash Ketchum, please report to the emergency room urgently," a rather panicky voice announced. Ash paused for a moment, thinking, until it hit him like a focus punch.

Pikachu.

Leaving a rather confused Dawn in reception, the raven haired trainer dashed down the corridor, sensing all was not well. His footsteps echoed throughout the Pokémon centre as his feet pounded the white tiled floor. Door after door he ran past, until he reached the one he needed. Without a second glance, he charged into the emergency room like a Tauros at a gate and dashed over to his friend, still lying there on the table. The pillow support was gone, and so was the blanket and a bag of ice was placed on its forehead. Nurse Joy approached him from the other side of the room, a worried look in her normally joyous eyes.

"Pikachu has developed a very serious fever. I'm trying to bring his temperature down but nothing seems to be working," she explained. Ash looked at the nurse, and saw the exhaustion in her eyes. She clearly was trying to the best of her ability to help Pikachu to pull through, but it wasn't enough.

"T-thanks Nurse Joy," Ash stuttered. He turned to Pikachu, who was panting heavily. His pulse was a very slow, consistent rate as the monitor besides him displayed. Nurse Joy returned to where she was, hastily pressing buttons and monitoring machines. Ash knelt down besides Pikachu, and rested a hand on its steadily moving chest as it breathed In and out. Ash fought back his tears, but a few escaped his auburn eyes and dripped onto his best friend, being evaporated almost instantly at the extreme temperature of the fever. Ash, however, was not concerned about the heat seeping through his gloves and burning his hands. He was concerned about his friend's life. They've been through so much together. And now, it looked like it was coming to an end. Ash didn't even notice a knock on the door and a young coordinator stepping in, as his eyes were fixated on his partner. Ash felt a movement underneath his gloved hand, and raised it slightly to allow Pikachu room to move. Pikachu opened its eyes and stared at its trainer, its friend, and shifted closer to him. With a struggle, Pikachu managed to move next to Ash and gave his cheek a lick. Memories flooded back to Ash. Memories of their first journey together, where they were attacked by a flock of Spearow and Pikachu jumped to his rescue. Memories of the time they became friends, as Pikachu licked his cheek weakly as he lay on the ground after the Spearow attack, so many wonderful memories, all brought on by this simple gesture of friendship between the two. Pikachu relaxed its muscled and laid down, his breathing gently fading. Ash stared at his Best friend, his mind screaming at him to do something. The world around him became a blur. Nurse Joy was frantically running around the room, trying to keep the little mouse alive. Dawn ran over to Ash and hugged him, her head resting in the crook of his neck as she fought back tears. All the while, Ash stared at his friend, unable to do anything. He reached his hands out and picked the weak electric type up, cradling it in his arms.

"Pikachu…" Ash uttered. Tears escaped his eyes and fell like raindrops, landing on the yellow mouse. The monitor at the side displayed Pikachu's pulse gradually slowing down. Nurse Joy stopped what she was doing; she knew it was too late. She wiped some tears out of her exhausted eyes with a hand extremely shaky from stress and exhaustion. The monitor made one last beep, before falling into silence. Pikachu lay limp in Ash's arms, its breathing came to a stop. He was gone…Pikachu was dead.

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**Yes. I did the unthinkable. I killed him. Mwhahahahahaha. Be sure to follow the story to find out what happens next! :D**

**if you've got a minute, please review. Your feedback is greatly appreciated :)**


	3. The Journey

**I'm back for another instalment of "Clash with a titan", and this chapter is slightly longer than chapter 2. Hope you enjoy. Read and review please :)**

* * *

He stared at the little mouse lying limp in his arms. An overwhelming feeling of sadness took control of his mind, clouding his eyes as tears formed and dripped down to the lifeless creature. Nurse Joy walked over to him, resting her hand on Ash's shoulder. Her eyes were filled with sadness for the boy. Her attempt at gaining his attention failed, as the boy continued to stare at his lifeless companion cradled in his arms. The girl next to him was sobbing, staining his blue hoodie with dark patches, as she cried into his shoulder. Her arms were wrapped around him, trying to be of comfort for both her and the boy.

"Ash?" Nurse Joy spoke wearily, once again hoping to get the boys attention. After a few seconds, he glanced over at the nurse, tearing his eyes away from his yellow friend, and focusing them on the nurse. The pink haired girl looked into his eyes, which sent a shiver down his spine. The warm, auburn eyes that the boy usually harboured were gone; replaced by two furious orbs as black as coal, and as cold as ice.

"Are…Are you ok?" the nurse asked him, fearful of the boy stood in front of her. He gave no reply, instead, glanced down at the electric type nestled in his arms. A final few tears found their way out of Ash's tear ducts, and dripped onto the Pokémon below. Finally, Ash laid the mouse onto the table in front of him, setting it down gently. Dawn glanced up, and through her tears saw the raven haired trainer place the Pokémon onto the table. She unwrapped her arms from the boy's chest and with a few sniffles, mustered the strength to finally speak.

"W-we should give it a-a funeral," she sniffed. Her tears started to dry up, and she managed to compose herself. Ash didn't move. He remained still, his gaze fixated on his best friend below him; the brim of his cap concealed his eyes. After several minutes of agonising silence, Nurse Joy spoke once more.

"Ash, you're welcome to stay at the centre for a while," she said, hoping to break the tension present in the room. Ash slowly nodded, before turning and walking out of the room silently; his head held low to allow his cap to shroud his face in shadows. Dawn watched him leave and attempted to follow, until Nurse Joy laid her hand on her shoulder and shook her head. For now it was best that the boy had some privacy. Dawn stayed put, allowing the boy to have some alone time; her hand clutching her chest as tears one again formed in her sapphire blue eyes. Ash walked down the brightly lit hall towards reception, his head held low in shame, anger and sadness. As he emerged from the bright corridor behind him, he glanced up. The front desk had been tidied, presumably by Dawn, but Ash didn't care. He walked out of the bright centre and out into the bitter darkness of the moonlit world. He didn't know where he was going, and he didn't care. He kept walking, away from the centre, away from Dawn, away from the deceased Pikachu, away from everyone, away from his life. And he would continue walking until late into the night.

* * *

Dawn sat on her bed, thinking about everything that had happened. She came to Kanto to participate in contests and hopefully the grand festival. Instead, her best friends partner had died, and he was wandering around somewhere in the middle of the night. Whenever she would walk to the reception, Nurse Joy would tell her to get back to her room, and that Ash would be fine, although Dawn could tell she was secretly worried about the young trainer as well. She remained at her post at the front desk, hoping that Ash would return. Dawn, meanwhile, remained in her room, waiting anxiously for any news of Ash's whereabouts from the pink haired nurse. It had been several hours since Ash had left, and Dawn was really worrying. She glanced over at the clock a top the dresser directly opposite of the bed, which displayed 00:37 in red letters which shone against the ceiling, casting a red glow among the many silvery colours that the moonlight was offering. Despite her eyes screaming at her to get some sleep, she remained up to wait for her friend. She sighed, before leaning back on the bed, allowing the soft sheets to embrace her warmly. She thought back to the emergency room; the way he looked at Nurse Joy scared her. She only caught a glance at him through her streaming tears, but that was all she needed to send shivers down her spine. His eyes were carrying the same coldness in them as before when he yelled at her. Would this change be permanent? What happened to the sweet, gentle boy she knew and cared for? The questions swirled around her mind, like a memory that just wouldn't go away, no matter how hard you tried to forget it. She thought back to the little mouse, now lying dead on a soft bed in one of the rooms. Nurse Joy didn't want to bury him without Ash, so she left him in one of the patient's rooms, in a sleep that would never end. She shook her head, trying to take her thoughts away from Ash, Pikachu, and the horrible day so far. She thought about the grand festival, competing in the finals with her partner, Piplup. Her friends would be cheering her on. Her Mom, Zoey, Brock, Ash.

Ash…

Her thoughts one again centred on the raven haired trainer from Pallet town. Where was he? Was he ok? Her mind kept ploughing her with questions, until it finally became too much, and her eyelids encased her eyes, as she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Nurse Joy glanced at the clock: 01:46. Yawning, the nurse stretched her arms above her head, trying to stay awake for the upset trainer's return. She glanced at the door, and, seeing no sign of him, she sighed. After working nonstop through the afternoon to care for the little mouse, she was exhausted. After another yawn, she stood up and began pacing the centres lobby. Her thoughts, just like Dawns, were centred on the boy, hoping he was ok, and that he would come back safely. She signed again, stopping her pacing and risking another glance at the door; still no sign of the trainer. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

Ash sat by the lake. Somehow, he had wandered into a densely occupied forest, and reached a large lake deep into the undergrowth. He stared at the reflection of the moon buried deep within the waters of the crystal clear lake. Just this morning, he was excited about seeing his coordinator friend for the first time in months. Now, he was sitting at a lake, lost within the denseness of the trees and shrubbery, thinking about his yellow mouse companion…or ex-companion. He glanced down to his own reflection in the gently rippling water. However, as he gazed deep into his eyes, he realised it wasn't him staring back. The figure staring back had cold, chilling eyes, resembling two lumps of the blackest coal. Gone were the warm, gentle orbs of kindness. And this time, they wouldn't return for a very long while. He turned away, not wanting to see the stranger in the lake. He wanted to cry, cry for Pikachu, cry for himself…but no tears came. He sat there in silence, shivering as the cold chill of the night invaded his body. He stood up, and began his long walk back to the Pokémon centre.

* * *

Dawn's eyes fluttered open as the first rays of the sun beamed through the window, illuminating the white room with a golden glow. With a yawn, she sat up on the bed, trying to remember the events of the previous day; and that's when she realised that something was wrong. She glanced around the room, looking for the source of her unease. And there it was, lying atop the dresser on the opposite wall. Stumbling to her feet, she walked over to the dresser and picked up the object. It was red with a black stripe going down the middle, with half a pokeball boldly imprinted on the front. Dawn wasn't much of a morning person, so it took her a while to figure out what she was holding. Confused, she scanned the object, hoping it would reveal its secrets. Then it hit her. It was a hat, or to be more specific, Ash's hat. She looked down at the dresser, where a note was laid underneath where the hat was. She picked up the note with her other hand and began reading it:

_Dear Dawn,_

_I've left to do a little thinking. I've already buried him. Good luck in your contests. I'll be watching them, somehow. Take good care of them. Don't try and find me, I can't even find myself. _

_Ash_

Dawn put the note down, allowing its message to sink in. She didn't understand much of the note. Who has he buried? And what was she supposed to take care of? Still holding his hat, she ran out of the room, hoping to find the boy before it was too late. Surprisingly, she fell asleep fully clothed last night, and even had her pink boots on; but she still failed to notice. She ran down the hall and into the lobby, where she met a rather disoriented nurse. The nurse in question was stumbling to her feet, holding the front desk for support. Eventually, her shaking legs calmed down and allowed her to stand up.

"Nurse Joy, are you ok?" Dawn asked, confused as to why the nurse was on the floor. The nurse smiled at her.

"Yes, I'm fine. I must've fallen asleep," she chuckled, not entirely sure how she ended up sleeping on the floor. Shaking it off, the nurse glanced down to the hat in Dawn's hand.

"Dawn isn't that Ash's hat?" she asked. The coordinator looked down at the hat, a sullen look on her face.

"I found it in my room with a note. Ash must've left it for me…" she muttered. The nurse gave a knowing look before walking over to the coordinator and resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Ash will come back. Don't worry," she said, hoping to be of comfort to the blunette. Dawn however, shook her head.

"He said…that he was leaving to do some thinking, and that I shouldn't look for him…" she uttered sadly. Nurse Joy looked at the girl, concern in her eyes.

"He'll be fine. Don't worry about a thing," she said. Glancing down the hall, she remembered the little mouse. If Ash left, did he want her to bury Pikachu? She turned to the blunette, who still had her gaze fixed on the floor.

"Dawn, do you want to help me with Pikachu?" the nurse asked, unsure on whether the blunette could cope with seeing the little mouse lying dead. Dawn looked up and, with hesitation, nodded, before the two walked down the hall towards Pikachu's room. However, when they arrived there, Pikachu was nowhere to be seen. Dawn thought back to the message:

_I've already buried him,_

Ash must've meant Pikachu. She turned to the confused nurse, before digging through her pockets to find the note she hastily shoved in. Finding it, she unscrewed it and handed the nurse it. She took the note and scanned over the words, taking into account the 'I've already buried him,' part. She handed the note back to Dawn before giving her a cheerful smile.

"See? Ash still cares. He'll be fine. After all, he did place in the top four of the Sinnoh league," the nurse smiled, recalling the thrilling match she saw on TV, with Ash battling against the mysterious Tobias and his legendary Pokémon.

"That reminds me. The Pokémon you gave me yesterday should be fully recovered by now," she said. Dawn looked up; at the thought of seeing her healthy Pokémon again, she smiled before following the nurse out of the room to their next destination. The room in question was at the very end of the hall and was known as the 'recovery room', where any Pokémon being treated or cared for by the nurse were brought to recover. They walked into the room and the nurse led her to her pokeballs, where she found a surprise, or to be more exact, 5 surprises. 5 unknown pokeballs were on the table next to Dawns.

"Strange, there shouldn't be any more Pokémon in here other than yours," the nurse explained. She furrowed her brow in an attempt to understand the situation. Who would just leave their Pokémon without even telling her? Dawn picked one up, and opened it, revealing a red beam of light that shot to the floor, the light sprouted 4 strong legs, a shell, a tail, and oddly enough, a tree. When the light faded, a giant green tortoise was staring at her; a small tree sprouting out of the side of its shell.

"Torterra!" it shrieked. Dawn was stunned to see the figure of the continent Pokémon emerge from the ball. Then, realising who this Pokémon might belong to; she dropped the ball, which fell to the floor with a clunk before rolling away. Torterra looked around in confusion, looking for its trainer. It glanced at Dawn before smiling. If she's here, then Ash must be here too.

"Tor!" it greeted with a smile. Dawn however, was still too shocked to reply. She turned to the table and picked up another red and white ball, before hastily opening it. With a familiar flash of light, the figure of a monkey with its head on fire emerged. Its body was mostly covered in white fur, with gold and red highlights.

"Infernape" it cried, pounding its chest with its fists. Just like Torterra did, it glanced around the room looking for any signs of its trainer, before spotting Dawn and calming down. Dawn returned to her state of shock, mouth wide open. She shook her head, shaking her shock away temporarily, before grabbing the rest of the balls and throwing them into the air. Various pops and lights emanated from the red and white balls, before revealing their contents. Before her stood the blue land shark, Gible, the orange water weasel, Buizel, and the flying type Staraptor. Dawn thought back to the note:

_Take good care of them_

This must've been what he meant. She glanced at the Pokémon, who all returned confused glances, wondering where their trainer was.

"Dawn, do these Pokémon hold any significance to you?" the nurse spoke up, breaking the icy silence that befell them. Dawn nodded, before replying.

"They're all Ash's Pokémon. The note said to take care of them, so I guess he left them behind too…"Dawn started, sadness welling up inside her. Why would Ash abandon all his Pokémon? Dawn turned to the powerful, well trained Pokémon, ready to explain.

"Ok…Guys, Ash has left to do some thinking. We don't know where but he said for me to look after you," she explained, hoping not to get various attacks to her face from the Pokémon. The attacks never came, and the Pokémon merely stood there, thinking about what the blunette had said. Various grunts and chatter between the Pokémon ensued, leaving Dawn and Nurse Joy hopeful that they wouldn't take the news badly. After several minutes, the Pokémon turned again to Dawn, before Buizel stepped forward. Dawn braced herself, but it was unnecessary, as the Pokémon gave her a smile and a thumbs up, confirming his and the rests agreement. Ash travelled with her and entrusted her to take care of them, so they had to respect his decision. After all, Buizel was once Dawn's Pokémon and she cared for him a lot. Dawn smiled at Buizel, before turning to the rest of the group.

"Ok, I don't know where Ash has gone and I'm not entirely sure why he left, but he entrusted me in taking care of you, and I'll do my best!" she said, pumping her fist in the air as she gave the group a cheerful smile. Various calls followed, replying to Dawns statement. She turned to the pink haired nurse, who was watching the scene with quiet interest.

"Nurse Joy, I'll be taking all of Ash's Pokémon with me, and when I find him, I'll give him them back," she explained, hoping her plan was ok with the nurse. The nurse thought for a moment; trainers weren't allowed to carry more than six Pokémon with them at any one time, but, there's no rule against hiding the other pokeballs in her bag. She smiled at the blunette and nodded her head.

"On one condition, that you tell no-one that you have more than 6 Pokémon. It's against the law and we both could get into serious trouble if anyone finds out," she explained. Dawn nodded, showing her understanding. She turned back to the group of Pokémon, who were eagerly awaiting the nurse's response.

"Ok guys, let's go find Ash!" she exclaimed.

* * *

"Aww man, we've been searching for hours and still no sign of him," Dawn complained. Her partner Piplup rolled its eyes at her. This was the fifth time she'd complained in the past half hour. And it was really getting tiresome. After collecting all of Ash's Pokémon from the centre, as well as her own, she left to search for the raven haired trainer. However, several hours into her search and still not a single sign of his whereabouts. The afternoon sun shone overhead, casting a scorching glow across the grassy valley she had wandered into. Ash couldn't have gone that far, so she thought it would be best to search locally, starting with the local towns and villages. But so far, nobody had seen any sight of the boy, causing a rather depressed Dawn to continue her seemingly never-ending search for the trainer. She glanced around, taking into account the endless grassy fields surrounding her. Pokémon were happily playing together in the heat of the afternoon sun. She stood on a solitary path that ran the entire way across the field, leading up to a forest. She turned around to glance back the way she came, the dirt path stretching all the way back to the little town in the shadow of Mt. Silver directly behind. She turned to the little blue penguin stood by her side, which so far was following the coordinator like a stray Poochyena.

"Ok Piplup, we need to think this through. Ash left last night and since then he's been back to the centre to drop off his hat, pokeballs and write me a note. So, he can't have gotten that far," she explained, thinking of all the possible scenarios that the boy could've ended up in. The penguin, thankful that her trainer was finally thinking the situation through, nodded in agreement.

"Piplup pip, pip pip Piplup," it said, pointing towards the forest. The coordinator followed its wing and stared at the dark, immensely thick forest that lay ahead of them.

"You want to go in there?" she asked, fearful of the penguins answer.

"Pip," it nodded. Dawn glanced back at the forest. She really had no other leads so far; therefore, it's worth a shot? Right? Dawn nodded, before setting off down the dirt trail that led to the thick shrubbery outlining the forest, Piplup in tow. As she approached the forest entrance, she felt shivers down her spine, which was unusual, since the sun overhead was casting a scorching glow across the fields. Yet, something about this forest didn't feel right. She glanced through the thick trees nervously, trying to spot some indication that she was indeed heading the right way. However, the forest was covered in a thick blanket of darkness, obscuring the vision of any passers-by. Piplup tugged at Dawns leg nervously, before being scooped up into Dawns gentle arms.

"It's ok Piplup. There's no need to worry, especially with all of Ash's super strong Pokémon with us as well," she confidently said. Piplup however, detected a hint of fear in her over-confident voice. Piplup sighed, as Dawn entered the thick darkness of the forest. As they ventured further and further into the thick shrubbery surrounding them, Dawn felt her unease sky-rocket. Something was definitely off about this place; but she didn't know what. Even the usually over-confident, headstrong penguin Pokémon felt it, causing him to hide in Dawns arms, desperately scanning the dark area for any signs of light. After all, light meant safety, right?

Wrong.

Dawn spotted a light ahead, and desperately ran to it. The forest finally paid its toll on the coordinator as fear welled up in her usually joyous mind. She ran through the thick shrubbery, hoping not to trip up on a stray vine littering the forest floor. The light became closer, closer, as Dawn ran as fast as her slender legs would allow, until Dawn burst through the canopy of trees, and to her dismay, started falling down a very steep cliff. She screamed, desperately scrambling at the cliff rushing past her hoping to get a hold and save herself, Piplup clenched her blouse hoping the coordinator would find something to support them and save them from the deadly drop. After a few seconds scrambling at the rocks to her side, she finally caught hold of a branch that had worked its way out of the cliff face. There, she hung, clinging to dear life, hoping that a miracle would occur and pull her up to safety. But none came. Piplup clung onto the coordinators free arm, fearing for both of their lives. If Dawn let go, they would surely die. Dawn glanced up, hoping to catch sight of her saviour, but instead, she saw her demise. Her previously desperate attempts at scrambling for a hand-hold had jarred loose several rocks, which were now cascading down the cliff, and straight towards her. She ducked her head, praying she would survive. Her prayers were cut short however, as a large rock made contact with the top of her head, sending the blunette into a deep sleep. She loosened her grip on the branch, and, finger by finger, she eventually slipped off, carrying her and Piplup to their graves.

* * *

He stared at the beautiful city he visited so many years ago. The water was rushing past the small red boat he was on and gushing down into channels spread throughout the city of water. The haunting glow of the moon reflected off the gentle waves, making them glisten and reflect the shadowy glow all around the area. The boat finally pulled up to a dock, allowing its passenger to leave. The boy nodded to the old gentleman driving the boat, before stepping off and onto the wooden dock. He glanced around; looking at the buildings built along-side channels of water. He spotted several boats and canoes travelling the controlled streams of water. It had been years since he last visited the city, and he was finally back. Ash Ketchum had finally arrived in Alto Mare.

* * *

**First Pikachu, now Dawn and Piplup?! I'm such a cruel author :3**

**There were soooo many different segments to this chapter I was tempted to re-do the entire thing. But, I already went wrong quite early in the chapter for my first draft which resulted in the deletion of over 10,000 words and several hours of solid writing, but I'm pretty happy with this chapter. Hope you will be too. **

**R&R please :)**

**10,000 Words!**


	4. The Legend

**Finally finished chapter 4 in between coursework and exams. My first week back from summer and I've already got piles of work to do. Anyways, Read and Review please :)**

* * *

A crackling noise broke through the silence in her head. She sniffed the air, to smell a familiar scent of burning wood. She could feel heat radiating onto one side of her body, and with a start, opened her eyes in a flurry of blinks. She hastily tried to get up, but to her dismay, collapsed back in a heap on the surprisingly soft floor. Her vision finally came back to her, and she turned her head to see someone had made her a bed out of soft leaves. She raised her head, to see her body wrapped in what appeared to be a light blue blanket.

"Well well, you're finally awake," a voice said from somewhere behind the confused girl. Startled, she tried to get up again, to find the source of the voice, only to tremble and collapse back on the soft bed of leaves with a quiet thud.

"Hey, take it easy. You had a really nasty nock to the head. You're lucky I was there, or you wouldn't even be alive," the strangely familiar voice explained with a boyish chuckle. Where had she heard that voice before? She slowly bent forwards and twisted her torso to look for the person she had been talking to, and to her surprise, was met by the familiar face of Gary Oak. He was sat on a tree stump, grooming a dark, fox-like Pokémon with yellow rings covering its silky body. His lab coat had been thrown off to the side, as he sat in grey shorts with a black shirt. But Dawn didn't take too long to admire his appearance, as she suddenly remembered her over-confident partner.

"Piplup!" she suddenly exclaimed. She desperately scanned the clearing around her to see any hints of the blue penguin. She turned to Gary, pleading with her eyes. He, however, merely smiled at her.

"Don't worry, Piplup is safe. I returned him to his Pokeball to have a rest," he calmly explained, allowing relief to wash over Dawn. She reached for his pokeball. She didn't however; release him from his portable home, so as not to disturb his sleep. Then she put two and two together. She turned back to Gary, who had continued to groom the happy looking fox in front of him.

"Gary, how did you get Piplup's Pokeball?" she questioned him. She kept her Pokeballs on her waist, held in place on her belt that her skirt was concealing. Gary stopped brushing the Pokémon, his face a slightly dark shade of red as a faint blush emerged.

"I took it off your belt. Don't you think you should have that thing just a little bit higher?" Gary said coolly. Dawn folded her arms and looked at Gary.

"Hmph, men," she huffed, rolling her eyes. Gary chuckled, before turning to his Pokémon.

"Alright Umbreon, doesn't that feel a lot better now?" he asked soothingly to the black and yellow Pokémon. Umbreon replied with a smile and a small chirp. Gary smiled, before pulling a pokeball out of his pocket and returning the fox into its portable home.

"So Gary, how did you save me?" Dawn asked, curious to know what happened after she blacked out. Gary turned to her.

"It's a long story," he stated.

"I have a lot of time," Dawn replied, earning a sigh from the young scientist. He knew she wouldn't back down.

"Alright, if you really want to know, I'll start from the beginning," Gary started. Dawn shuffled closer to him, keen to pick up everything that Gary said. He eyed her for a minute, thinking of the best place to start, before he started talking again.

"I was back at the lab with grandpa and all of a sudden, we heard a shriek. I looked up and saw a Charizard flying towards us. At first I thought it was just Ash's Charizard paying us a visit, but as it got closer, I realised it couldn't have been Ash's Charizard. This one was huge. And it looked powerful. Hell, this thing looked like it could make a Rayquaza cry in envy," he chuckled the last part, before glancing at Dawn, who didn't seem too bothered about his joke. Sighing again, he continued his story.

"Anyway, when it arrived, it stopped right in front of me and gave me a pokeball it was holding, with a note attached. It said to trust Charizard and he would lead you," Gary said, straining his memory.

"Then, it grabbed me and flew me to this clearing a couple of days ago. The only Pokémon I had on me was Umbreon here, and as much as I hate to admit it, but Umbreon wouldn't have stood a chance against that thing, so I had no choice but to trust it," Gary spoke sullenly. He once again glanced towards Dawn, who remained silent and intent on hearing the story.

"After a couple of days of waiting in this clearing, it suddenly roared and flew off. The note said to trust it, so I followed it, and that's when I saw you hanging from that branch in the cliff. Talk about a nice place to hang out with your Pokémon," he joked, chuckling lightly to himself. Still, Dawn remained silent, not wanting to miss a single part of the story. He sighed, before continuing.

"Anyway, Charizard swooped down and grabbed you just as you got knocked on the head, then it brought you to me. It grabbed it's pokeball off my belt then flew off, leaving me here with you," he finally finished. Dawn looked bewildered, and the only thing that was uttered out of her mouth was an incoherent babbling which would make a Chatot sweat-drop. Gary glanced at her, hearing her many failed attempts at forming an understandable sentence, and chuckled, which in return snapped Dawn back to reality.

"What's so funny?" she huffed, folding her arms. Gary shook his head at the blunette.

"Nothing. Do you by any chance know where we are?" Gary asked. The coordinator cocked her head, deep in thought, before replying.

"I think we're inside the forest on the outskirts of Silver town," she slowly said. Gary thought about where he was briefly, before replying.

"So, do you know the way back?" he asked, hopeful. Dawn thought for a moment once more, before replying.

"I think so. Follow me, I'll get us out of here," she winked at him, causing Gary to smirk. She reminded him of the other Pallet town trainer that was his long-time rival. They are both so head-strong. He chuckled to himself once more, before following the blunette through the trees into the dark shrubbery once more.

"Hey Dawn, how'd you end up out here anyway?" Gary asked, but the blunette ploughing on ahead didn't seem to hear him. He shook his head, before following the coordinator through the thick canopy of trees. However, unknown to both of them, a pair of crystal blue eyes were watching their every movement from within the shadows…

* * *

He walked for hours, through the endless maze of buildings and canals, until he finally reached his destination. Now, if you'd have been with him, you'd have wondered why he was here. Ash however, knew perfectly well why he was here. He looked at the solid brick wall in front of him, concealed in the shadows of the eerie moon sinking slowly behind the many buildings occupying the city. He quickly glanced around, making sure he was alone, nothing. There was nobody around. No sounds could be heard except from the soothing trickle of the water in the many canals littering the city like the veins of a human. Perfect, he was alone. He turned back towards the wall, or what he could see of it in the dim moonlight. Without hesitation, he stepped towards the wall at the end of the alley and held a hand out in front of him. Closer he came to the wall, until somehow, his hand was absorbed through the wall like a Magmar absorbs heat. Still, this didn't stop him, as he pressed further on into the mystery wall. Inch by inch was absorbed, until, there was no trace of Ash anywhere. From anyone else's perspective, it looked like Ash had vanished into thin air.

* * *

"How much further do we have to go?" Dawn moaned for what must've been the tenth time in the past half hour. Gary chuckled to himself, before turning to the tired blunette behind him.

"I thought you were supposed to be leading me out of here," he said with a wide grin etched on his face. Dawn sighed. She knew Gary was right. But as much as she hated to admit it, she got them well and truly lost.

"Just keep walking. If we keep heading in one direction, we have to reach the end at some point," Dawn explained tiredly, as she trudged behind the young scientist.

"I guess so," he replied plainly, not bothering to turn around. He was tired too, but he wouldn't dare admit it to Dawn. She sighed, following him like a stray Poochyena. She had her head held low, so she didn't even notice the scientist stop in front of her, and as a result, ploughed into the back of him.

"Ow, Gary, why'd you stop," she whined, holding her head in pain from the collision. Gary held a hand up, signalling her to be quiet. Fear creeping into her mind, she shuffled closer to the scientist, hoping to end her unease. After several minutes of agonising silence, Gary finally spoke.

"We're being followed," he whispered to the blunette. A deep chill ran through her body, invading every cell inside her, as she heard Gary speak.

"B-by w-who?" she stuttered. Gary remained silent, and Dawn noticed his hand reach slowly for the lone pokeball on his belt. And, with one quick motion, threw the ball into the bushes to the side, making contact with something soft. A bright red light could be seen as a popping sound filled the eerily quiet forest, and moments later, a deep growl could be heard from the black and yellow fox as it sensed its opponent. A few seconds later, a large explosion rocketed its way towards the two humans, lighting the dark forest with a blinding light, and being carried in its destructive force was a rather beat up looking Umbreon. Gary tacked Dawn to the ground to protect her from the amazing force of the explosion, as it tore its way through the shrubbery like a Luvdisc swims through water. After a few minutes had past, the blindingly bright light died down, and Gary slowly made his way to his feat. He stumbled, but pressed on forwards, limping towards the body of the black Pokémon lying weekly against a tree. Dawn, still on the floor from where Gary tackled her, raised her head. Another rustling in the bushes, or to be more precise, the bushes right next to the young scientist. She snapped her head to the sound and saw what appeared to be white flames billowing out from behind the bush, followed by a small head covered in the white flame-like fur. A solitary blue eye could be seen from the canopy of white atop its head, which chilled Dawn to the bone. The blood red collar was next to rise from the thick shrubbery. Dawn was stunned at the sight of this unknown Pokémon rising from nowhere, but quickly regained her senses. She snapped her eyes towards Gary, who was limping towards his Pokémon companion. She knew she had to do something, but what? She panicked, looking for anything that could be used as a weapon against the deadly visitor from the shadows, but found nothing but twigs and sticks from the many trees littering the grassland in the formation of the forest. However, there was one thing she could do.

"Gary, look out!" she screamed as loud as her voice could go, just as the shadowy Pokémon launched its attack.

* * *

Atop a tree branch, the legendary dragon was resting peacefully; its red fur glistening in the moonlight as it cast a haunting glow to surround the area. Everything was peaceful, or so she thought. Her dreams faded away back into the deepest part of her imagination as a cold chill blew across the secret garden, being almost invisible, if not for the grass blades blowing as the wind tore through them. She fluttered her eyes open, as a shiver invaded her dragon-type body. Naturally, she hated the cold, being a legendary dragon. She craned her neck skywards, as if looking for the source of the sudden freak wind that ripped a path through the garden. Ever since that night oh so many years ago, she was weary of anything unusual; and this wind was certainly one of those times where she felt unease. She glanced around, past the beautiful sapphire blue water of the pool next to the tree she was currently residing in. With a slow, tired stutter, she began to levitate, and within seconds, she was already high in the sky, doing a sweep of the area to rest her unease. And there it was. The source of her nervousness was walking slowly through the hidden passage, arm raised in front. The cap on his head concealed his face, but she could tell it was only a young boy. Quickly using the dew surrounding her body, she suddenly became invisible, blending into the background, before she flew near the boy. He seemed familiar, yet so much like a complete stranger. The boy lowered his arm once he cleared the passage and raised his head to look across the beautiful moonlit garden he visited years ago. He looked down the path, admiring the beauty of the pool under the glistening moonlight, before slowly stepping forward. He took his cap off, allowing his black hair to explode into view. That's when the dragon realised who he was. She flew nearer to the boy, wanting a better look at his face to prove her thoughts right. She knew him; there was no doubt about that. She emerged closer and closer, curiosity peaking, when the boy suddenly stopped. He turned his head in her direction, and for the first time in years, the legendary dragon stared into the raven haired boy's eyes. She continued to look, and it appeared as if he was doing the same to her. His eyes were always so calming and soothing. The auburn orbs usually radiated kindness and compassion, but the orbs she met a long time ago were different. They didn't harbour any of the kindness they once had. The warmth and compassion was gone; replaced by anger and hatred. But somehow, she knew it was him. The trainer she met a long time ago was still present in the dark eyes she chillingly admired. It was him; Ash.

"Latias, you don't have to hide, it's me," Ash slowly said, a smile working its way onto his face. Latias calmed a little. Even if his eyes were cold, his smile was still warm and caring. She flew next to him and revealed herself in a glistening blue light that twinkled throughout the garden. Her red and white body stretched out, revealing a legendary dragon. Latias edged closer to the boy, and he raised his hand that was holding his hat. Latias glanced down, before ducking her head towards the hat and swiping it away from his hand, and placing it gently on top of her head using her dragon-like claws. Ash chuckled; something he hadn't done since…that night. He reached down to his belt, and plucked a red and white ball from it. Then, he held it out in front of him, as if offering it to Latias. The Eon dragon looked at it confused, wondering what Ash was going to do. Maybe he wanted to play catch? Her hopeful thoughts were shattered however, as the boy spoke through the chilling night breeze.

"Latias, would you like to come along with me?"

* * *

He stood atop the mountain, the icy winds whipping through his red jacket, covering it in a thick coat of snow. He looked out across the mountain range, past the fierce winds and snow attempting to blind him. It was really a beautiful sight. But no matter how beautiful the scenery was, he would always be haunted by that terribly grim day, all those many years ago. He wordlessly plucked a pokeball from his belt and threw it on the ground just behind him. The ball exploded into a blinding red light, revealing a large orange dragon. It raised its head and threw a ball of fire in the air, illuminating his presence as the ball of fire flew higher, cutting through the snow like a hot knife through butter. The dragon turned to its silent trainer, who was continuing to admire the mountain range ahead of him. A few seconds passed, until the dragon nodded to its trainer, before taking off towards the forest on the other side of the mountain. Once its flame-lit tail was out of sight, the trainer picked up his pokeball from the snow behind him, and clipped it on his belt, before returning to his perch at the peak of the mountain. He never wanted things to go this far. But there was no turning back; not after what he suffered. Anyone who challenged him should feel the pain he felt. But, something about his latest challenger stuck with him, and for the first time in years, brought happiness to him. The way he cared for his Pokemon's well being. He gave a silent sigh, hoping that he hadn't gone too far. He didn't want the boy with the Pikachu to turn out like him. That was a mistake he made many years ago, that he never could go back on.

* * *

**Well, it's finally finished. I had to drag myself to my laptop at about 2am last night to get this finished, so hopefully my hard work will show. **

**A review I received from a guest led me to believe I've made Red a little too harsh. Yep, for those of you who haven't guessed it, the mysterious trainer is Red. Kinda let the Glameow out of the bag there didn't I? Well, there is a reason for everything in the story so far, so you'll just have to keep reading to find out. **

**Please Read and Review. Every review is greatly appreciated :)**


	5. The Guardian

**Well, I've spent the little free time I have on writing this chapter. Hopefully my dedication will show. **

**Quick thanks to Serenity and Chaos for her in-depth reviews of each chapter. If you're reading this, a big thanks to you.**

**R&R please :)**

* * *

A gust of powerful wind, a flash of red, a beam of white; this is all that Dawn could take in as the unknown Pokémon attacked the scientist. She shielded her eyes, fearing the worst, but the worst never came. Slowly, she opened her eyes, until she caught a glimpse of orange. Her eyes fully open now, she spied the orange being, and took into account its giant powerful wings, its tail brightly lit with a steadily burning flame. It took a few seconds until she realised what she was looking at; it was a Charizard. The unknown Pokémon was nowhere to be seen, and Charizard had a huge grin on its face, telling Dawn all she needed to know. She looked over to where Gary previously was, only to see him kneeling down next to his heavily beaten Umbreon, his knee bleeding and his shirt ripped and seared from the explosion that tore through the forest. Slowly, Dawn made her way to her feet and walked over to the quiet scientist.

"He's hurt, but not too badly," Gary said, sensing the blunette approaching. He glanced up at her, and saw the orange dragon in the background. He laid Umbreon down, before attempting to stand up, only to fail. He collapsed on the floor, causing a shocked Dawn to rush to his side.

"I'm ok," he muttered, his face buried deep in the forest foliage littering the floor. He slowly raised himself up, and felt Dawn wrap her arm around his chest to support him. Gary couldn't help but turn a slightly darker shade as a faint blush lined his cheeks. This, thankfully, went unnoticed by the coordinator, who was struggling to help the scientist to his very shaky feet. With the extra help, Gary finally managed to stand up straight, before he limped over to the orange dragon, which had a look of curiosity on his face. The dragon remained calm, however, as Gary laid his hand on its shoulder; mainly for support. He looked deep in the Charizards eyes, and saw the curiosity flickering about in the amber orbs.

"Thank you, Charizard. I don't know where you came from, but all I can say is thanks," Gary whispered, making sure Dawn didn't hear what he was saying. He couldn't be seen as weak, especially around a girl. But, due to Charizards supreme senses, it heard every word uttered by the scientist. Charizard nodded to the boy, before stepping back a few paces. Then, with a mighty beat of its powerful wings, it took flight, showering the forest floor with dust and tree debris. With a quick turn, it shot through the canopy of foliage and out of view from the two humans, leaving a loud roar to echo through the trees in remembrance of the powerful beast. Gary looked down his knee, finally noticing that it was bleeding heavily, where a jagged rock punctured the skin and tore through the flesh. He slowly retreated to the comfort of the leafy ground to allow his knee rest. He glanced back at the blunette, who watched the scene unfold with a quiet curiosity. Noticing Gary staring at her caused her to turn away, before remembering his injuries. He picked up the limp black Pokémon before walking towards Gary, who pulled a ball out of his pocket and returned the Pokémon, uttering a "thanks" as the red beam enveloped it. She looked down at his bleeding knee, before pulling her yellow pack off her back and pulling out bandages; and, after some protest, covered his knee and lower leg in a cottony white bandage. Gary, wincing slightly at the coordinators touch, looked up to the sky; or what he could see of it through the thick layer of leaves overhead; the moonlight filtering down in steady channels through the gaps in the trees. His thoughts circled around the Charizard that had not only saved his life, but saved Dawn's too. Whoever it belongs to, Gary knew one thing. He and Dawn had their own guardian angel.

…

The red and white dragon stared endlessly at the ball in front of her. She had always seen trainers capture Pokémon in the strange contraption, but she never once stopped to think what it would be like if she was caught in one of these things. It looked so…small, like it would suffocate her. Her eyes remained fixed, and unblinking, on the ball held out in front of her, as the thoughts of being trapped in one until her trainer called her out scared her. But, the boy must've picked up on the anxiety the legendary dragon was feeling, as he gave a faint chuckle.

"It's ok Latias; you don't have to stay in the ball. You can stay out if you want," Ash said. The dragon continued to stare at the ball in front of her for a moment longer, before taking off Ash's old Kanto league cap and nudging the ball with her forehead. In a flash of brilliant red light that lit up the moonlit sky, Latias had disappeared into the device. There was no struggle; the ball didn't even shake, as Latias let herself be captured. The button in the centre pinged red, signalising a successful capture. Ash looked at the ball plainly, before throwing it to the ground in front of him and releasing the Eon Pokémon from her confines. Latias shook her head, slightly dizzy from the feeling of being sucked into such a small place. She wasn't ever going back in one of them. Latias picked up the cap from the ground before placing it back on her head. It was so comfy. She could see why Ash wore it. Latias giggled to herself, before nudging Ash with her cheek. Ash responded by stroking the white feathers enveloping her long, slender neck, causing the Eon Pokémon to shiver with joy. Oh how she missed his touch. She pulled back and looked into his eyes, earning another shiver in the process. His eyes were so cold. Nothing like the joyous amber lumps she had met all those years ago. What happened to him to make his eyes so cold? She turned away, looking back down at the secret garden that had been her home since she was born. Although she was excited to be going with Ash, she was going to miss her home. She cooed sadly, before turning back to Ash, who merely responded with patting her neck gently.

"Come on, let's go. The longer we stay here, the harder it will be for you," Ash stated, before turning and walking back towards the shadow covered wall that concealed the hidden door in and out of the garden. Latias began to follow, but stopped, briefly looking around at the place she called home for so many years now. She spied the pond at the end of the moonlit garden, gently rippling in the night time breeze. She looked at the many trees littering the end of the garden like her very own forest. She turned back to Ash, who was already waiting for her at the exit, and with a jolt, she sped towards him, a few tears dripping from her auburn eyes as she watched her home pull away from her with every inch she moved. Ash watched the dragon approaching, and wordlessly turned around, before walking back through the wall, Latias in tow.

…

After much protest from the young scientist, Dawn finally managed to convince Gary to camp out in the forest for the night, to allow his knee time to heal. Despite his many arguments, Dawn remained stubborn and set up camp back in the clearing Gary brought her to earlier. She gathered some dry sticks and attempted to light them; after failing to light a successful campfire, she sat down on the floor with a huff. She should've brought Cyndaquil with her instead of leaving it at home with her Mom. She didn't have a fire-type.

Fire type…That's it!

Dawn grabbed her pack to her side and rummaged in her backpack and eventually found what she was looking for. She pulled the red and white capsule out of her bag and threw it, releasing the imprisoned fire-type from containment. Its head lit up the area instantly, and after a command from Dawn, a roaring fire was formed in the centre of the clearing, allowing its warm glow to penetrate the thick blanket of darkness that had been suffocating them. Gary watched in surprise as Dawn returned the fire type and placed the pokeball back into her bag.

"Dawn, when did you get an Infernape?" he asked. He thought Dawn's first Pokémon was a Piplup, so how did she get an Infernape? Dawn cocked her head, looking for the best way to break the news to Gary. After all, he could be trusted.

"Well, it's not actually mine. This Infernape is Ash's," Dawn explained to the awestruck scientist. After closing his gaping mouth, he responded.

"Why do you have Ash's Infernape?" he asked. Dawn, who was expecting the question to arise, sighed. This was going to be a long night. She sat down next to Gary, who was waiting patiently for her answer. Taking a deep breath, she began her long and eventful story.

"Ok, so let me start from the beginning,"

…

Bianca was the first to wake, as usual. Her grandpa liked to sleep in on a morning, so Bianca usually did the morning chores. She descended the staircase into the green and white living room, before briskly walking out the front door on the other side of the simple room. It had all become routine for her by this point in her life. Wake up, brush teeth, take a shower, and check on Latias. Simple, and that's exactly what the young girl thought as she walked through the secret garden and down to the lake. Strange, normally Latias was up before Bianca and would immediately greet her when she arrived at the lake. Today was not the case, however, as she scanned the trees looking for any tell-tale signs of red to show her where Latias was; but to her dismay, only saw mixed colours of green, swaying gently in the morning breeze; dew glistening and refracting under the golden sunlight. Panicking, Bianca ran to the other end of the pool, desperately searching for her friend.

"Latias! Where are you Latias?"She called out to the Eon dragon, but received no reply. She did one last sweep of the area, before running back to the house at the other end of the garden. Grandpa would know what to do. He always did. She charged through the door, and to her surprise, caught him slowly descending the stairs, bleary eyed and stifling a yawn. She leaped over the sofa set in the middle of the living room, and dashed towards the old man, who was now sharing a look of great confusion.

"Grandpa! Latias is gone!" she yelled, yet the news seemed to wash over Lorenzo like a regular occurrence. He nodded his head and put his hand on the worried girls shoulder.

"Latias is fine. You have nothing to worry about," he calmly said, as his other hand fumbled in his pocket for what appeared to be a piece of paper. Handing the paper to Bianca, she quickly scanned it, desperate to know what she had missed out on.

_Dear Bianca and Lorenzo_

_I've offered Latias the chance to travel with me, and she's accepted. I'll take good care of her and we will visit as soon as we get the chance to. Sorry if we scare you when you discover this note. _

_Ash_

Bianca slowly lowered the paper, letting its message sink in. Latias was gone? She hadn't been away from Latias since that terrible night all those years ago, where the other Eon dragon gave his life to protect the town. Lorenzo grabbed the note from her hand, before placing it back in his pocket.

"Don't worry Bianca. Latias trusts Ash so you have to trust her judgement. She will be fine, Ash is a mighty fine trainer," he said, but his words were travelling through hollow ears. Bianca continued to stare into space as questions continued to fill her mind, bombarding every brain cell. She gently pushed past her grandpa, before slowly ascending the staircase and returning to her room in solitary, a few tears escaping her watery eyes as her door creaked to a close behind her.

…

The boat rocked gently on the water as the trainer and his companion stepped onto the small boat that would take them to Vermillion city. Ash sat down on the open back of the small red and white boat on one of the wooden benches provided at either side. The captain was fiddling around with some levers and switches inside the cabin, ensuring that they had a safe journey. Latias sat down next to the boy, taking the little free space left on the bench. Even though there was only Ash and Latias on the boat, there wasn't much room at all. Latias, who was disguised as Bianca, played with the Indigo league cap which sat atop her beautiful brown hair. After they left the garden, Ash told Latias to either stay invisible or disguise herself as a human. Preferring the latter option, she quickly took form of her best friend Bianca. She refused to give Ash his hat back however; and with good reason. Ash had changed so much in the time they were separated, and only his hat seemed unchanged. And after losing her brother, she didn't want to lose Ash as well, therefore clung onto the hat as if her life depended on it being atop her head. Ash didn't seem to mind, and let Latias have it. The boat jerked and suddenly, they were drifting out into the vast blue ocean, in pursuit of the land of Vermillion city, and after several minutes of silence, Ash spoke up.

"Latias, there's something you should know," he began, peaking Latias' interest and causing her to lean in closer. So close, in fact, that Ash could feel her breath hitting his cheek that she kissed all those years ago. He dismissed the thought and continued.

"You might be wondering where..." he paused. Gulping, he forced the next words out of his mouth.

"…Pikachu is. Well, before I came to get you…Pikachu…" he stopped once again, feeling the agony of his words stinging his mind like a Beedrill going rampant inside his head. Swallowing hard, he took a deep breath, preparing for the agonizing words that were to follow. All the while, Latias stared at him, her curiosity replaced with concern for the boy on the verge of tears.

"…Pikachu…Died," he uttered, the words impacting him heavily, and he looked down to the wooden floor of the little boat. When Ash had finished, Latias let slip a few tears, before burying her head into Ash's chest, trying to be of comfort to both him and her. Ash remained still for the next few seconds, and Latias thought he was going to stay silent for the rest of the ride. However, her thought was instantly disproven as she heard the raven haired trainer mutter something under his breath. It was quiet, but she heard it.

"And I killed him," were the words that escaped his guilt shrouded mind. Latias raised her head and backed off a little, surprised by her trainer's words. He turned to look at her, and she shivered. His eyes were still the cold, bitter orbs she met last night, but now, sadness was present; buried deep inside the orbs of chilling hatred, and she couldn't help but feel sad for the boy. There was no way he could've killed Pikachu. Although she had only met him briefly, she knew just how much the yellow mouse meant to Ash. The words that escaped his mouth had to be lies. She shook her head, before burying herself into Ash's chest once more, her hat falling from her head and landing with a light thud against the hollow wood floor. Silence befell the small vessel once more, and the only noise that could be heard was the quiet chugging of the engine propelling the boat forward; and this is how it remained for the rest of the journey, until several hours later, when Ash spotted the familiar city of Vermillion looming closer as the boat swept through the waves. '_Whatever it takes, I will get stronger; strong enough to beat that trainer. It's what he would've wanted,'_ Ash thought, as the boat pulled up into the port of the city. The mid-day sun heated the city like a thousand flame throwers. This is where Ash's vengeance would start; and he would make sure it ended painful for the trainer in red.

…

He gazed across the mountain range for the 714th day in a row. Nearly two years had passed since the incident which turned him away from his friends, and he was still too scared to come off the mountain. He turned to his loyal Charizard, gazing deep into the fiery eyes of the beast, and with a gust of powerful wind kicking the snow around, Charizard took flight; its trainer watching as it flew through the clouds and eventually out of sight, becoming nothing more than a memory in mere seconds. He continued to gaze on. Watching the clouds swirl around the peaks of the many mountains ahead of him. The dragon must be getting bored of the tasks he keeps setting, but it was important if he wanted to ensure the trainer with the Pikachu didn't make the same mistake as he did nearly two years ago. He just hoped that Charizard was fast enough.

"Hey, you! Are you the really powerful trainer I keep hearing about?" a voice inquired behind him. Giving a silent sigh, he turned to face his latest challenger, and with a quick flick of his wrist, released his yellow mouse from its captivity. The other trainer looked across at the Pikachu, and with a confident smirk, threw his ball. It landed with a crunch in the snow, and opened with a loud pop that echoed through the sky. A flash of red later, and a giant rock dinosaur was smirking at the little mouse.

"Heh, piece of cake, Tyranitar, go!" he roared, as Tyranitar charged at the Pikachu menacingly. But the Pikachu merely stepped to the side, its tail glowing white as it scored a direct hit, connecting with Tyranitars side; unbelievably, Tyranitar flew across the top of the mountain, before being embedded inside the rock of the mountain behind its trainer. With an agonizing roar, it collapsed to the ground in a heap. Its trainer rushed over to it, inspecting for any fatalities, before returning the monster and running off to find the Pokémon centre. The remaining trainer returned his Pikachu, and turned back to face the mountain range. So many weak trainers, so many injured Pokémon. He didn't like making innocent Pokémon suffer, but if it's the price they had to pay for their insolent trainers, then so be it. He'd battle, injure and if necessary, kill any Pokémon that obeyed the weak commands of their trainers. He didn't care if they got hurt. After all the pain inflicted onto him, everyone else deserved to suffer; everyone, except for that trainer with the Pikachu. He was special. He showed so much compassion towards his Pokémon, it reminded him of himself when he was younger. He didn't know why, but ever since his encounter with him, he felt so cruel injuring innocent Pokémon. He began to hate himself even more than he did before. He continued gazing across the mountain range, hoping he had made the right decision.

* * *

**Well, I've been working pretty much none-stop today to finish this piece up. I had a 3DS waiting for me when I finished (since I uploaded this on my Birthday! :D)but you probably don't want to hear about that. Back to the fic.**

**Hmm...What is Red, I mean the mysterious trainer, up to with his Charizard? Only time will tell. **

**And before you write a review wondering why I made him so cruel, you will find out later in the fic. Everything has it's reason. **

**And how is Ash going to extract his revenge? What's he planning on doing with Latias? Where is he heading in Vermillion city? Now even I can't wait to write it!**

**R&R please, a thanks in advance for anyone who does :D**

**Until next week! I'm going to spend some quality time playing Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance :D See you next time!**


	6. The Shadow

**Finally completed Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance and managed to tear myself away from the game long enough to write this chapter. I'm pretty happy with it, and hopefully you will be too. Also, I've double spaced the paragraphing to make it a little easier to read. **

* * *

Shocked, speechless, amazed, these were just a few of the many emotions swirling around Gary Oak's young mind as Dawn's lengthy tale finally came to an end; but he remained composed and quickly responded.

"So, do you know where he is now?" he asked. Dawn looked at him, with a look as if to say 'are you for real?'

"No I don't know where he is! Why do you think I spent the last 24 hours in this Arceus forsaken forest?!" she exclaimed, causing the scientist to sweat-drop. She really did remind him of Ash. They were like brother and sister. Dawn remained quiet, waiting for his response. Then, an idea hit him like a focus punch from a Machamp.

"Dawn, do you have a Pokenav?" he asked, hoping quietly to himself. Dawn looked at him for a moment, before turning to her side and rummaging around in her pack. A few seconds later, she pulled out the little yellow device and handed it to Gary.

"So, why do you want my Pokenav?" she inquired, but the scientist was already deep in concentration as he worked the controls for the device like it was a second nature to him. He held the device up to his ear, listening to the gentle beep emanating from the Pokenav. A few seconds later, the beep disappeared and was replaced by a click.

"Hello? Grandpa?" he asked, talking into the yellow device. Dawn watched on, wondering why he was so desperate to call his Grandpa; especially in a time like this. Her thoughts were cut short, as the scientist continued to talk.

"OK, here's the deal, I need you to pull up Ash's Pokedex info ASAP. I need all the details on his latest capture," he said in a commanding tone. Now she understood. Ash's Pokedex could tell them when his last capture was, and where it was, and even on what Pokémon. Using this info, they could track Ash down and determine his location! She leaned in closer, wanting to hear the old man's reply; after a few minutes, he finally spoke again, and this time Dawn was close enough to hear what he said.

"Well, you probably wouldn't believe this when I tell you, but Ash's last capture was apparently the legendary Eon Pokémon, Latias," the scientist spoke, his voice crackly and distorted from the poor network signal trying to push through the canopy of trees. Gary nearly dropped the Pokenav when he heard this, but a jab to his side from the blunette snapped him out of his shock. He held the device to his ear again.

"And, where was this capture and when?" he asked. Dawn leaned in closer, so close in fact, that Gary could feel her warm breath reaching his cheek, colouring it in a red tinge.

"The capture was supposedly carried out in Alto Mare, around 2am last night," the voice said from Pallet town. Gary whispered a "thanks", before closing the flip up lid on the Pokenav. He was about to hand it to Dawn, when he realised something. He un-flipped the lid and pressed some buttons on screen, until a map appeared, showing all of the Kanto and Johto regions, and their exact location. He turned slowly to Dawn.

"Dawn?"

"Hm?"

"Did you never notice the very minute fact that your Pokenav, HAS A FREAKING MAP!" he exclaimed, causing the coordinator to fall over, sweat-dropping. Well, that was several hours of irreplaceable time well spent.

"Hehe, I guess I…Forgot?"She mumbled. Gary face-palmed, before pushing himself up, using the tree he was leaning on for support.

"Let's just go," he sighed, wincing as he took his first step, following the route the map had set to guide them back to civilisation. But, they seemed to forget all about the mysterious Pokémon that attacked them earlier, and as it watched them from the shadows, its blinding blue eyes cutting through the thick darkness, it felt angrier than ever before. This time, they didn't have that Charizard to protect them. The trainer before desecrated its home with that disgusting corpse and he vowed he would extract his revenge on the next trainer that set foot upon his land.

* * *

The amazing discovery that befell the senior professor of Pokémon made his curious mind go into overdrive, working out every possible scenario on just how the little kid he set up for his Pokémon journey so many years ago managed to get his pokeball onto a Latias, one of the most revered, and scarcely known legendaries the world has ever known. He pulled up the details from Ash's Pokedex, analysing all the data that the little red device had recorded about the legendary Eon Pokémon. His eyes flickered back and forth across the screen, analysing every scrap of information that was available.

He had to find Ash, and study that Latias. If he was the first to actually do a scientific study of a Latias, he would be even more famous than he already was. Chuckling at the thought, he stood up from his chair and rushed over to his desk. This scenario called for a poem, which he promptly wrote down in his little note book that sat on his desk. To be the first to study such a magnificent specimen, oh how his life would rise to excellent. It wasn't the best one he had thought of, but it'd do.

He closed his notebook and dropped his pen onto the desk next to it, before a beeping from his computer grabbed his attention. He rushed over to it, and to his astonishment, saw the record of Latias he copied had been deleted. He hastily scanned for Ash's Pokedex, and when he found it, got an even bigger shock. According to Ash's Pokedex, he had no record of even seeing a Latias. All records of the legendary were gone.

Was it just a glitch? Or did Ash do something to delete the records. After much deliberation, the professor ruled out the latter option. Ash wasn't smart enough to tamper with a Pokedex. He didn't even learn how to tie his shoes until he was 10. Well, whatever was happening, he was going to get to the bottom of it, or his name wasn't Professor Samuel Oak.

* * *

Dawn sighed for what had to be the fifth time in the past hour. Gary Oak was walking ahead of her, leaving her to trudge after him in the dark forest on the edge of silver town. She hated the dark, more so the suffocating darkness of the forest she found herself in. Only a few glowing strands of golden light could be seen filtering through the trees as the two continued on, following the directions of the small device in Gary's hand. Ever since she set foot in the forest, Dawn had felt uneasy. Her unease sky-rocketed as the unknown Pokémon attacked them before, and with Gary's Umbreon out of commission, that left only her to fight. She stuck close to the scientist ahead of her, who had his head down, his eyes fixed on the digital map in his hands. Then, with a sudden beep, the map disappeared. The Pokenav shut down, leaving the two in the dark, quite literally since the sunlight couldn't push past the leaves from the trees. He stopped, once again causing an unsuspecting blue haired coordinator to plough into the back of him.

"Ow, Gary! You really have to stop doing that!" she said, clearly irritated with the scientist. He ignored her, and continued pressing buttons on the little yellow device, trying to breathe new life into it. After several failed attempts, he turned to Dawn.

"Was this fully charged when you came in here?" he asked. He was sure that the battery gauge read 62% last time he looked. By rights, it should still be okay for another several hours. Dawn replied with a hesitant nod; it wasn't like her Pokenav to just shut off and refuse to come back on. Something was off, and without even thinking about it logically, she blamed the forest.

"Gary, let's get out of here, this forest is really creeping me out," she shivered, holding onto the scientists arm. He looked at her, irritation clearly present on his face.

"Well, we could get out of here a lot faster if your Pokenav actually worked!" he exclaimed, frustration rising. Dawn was too scared to notice. She felt a cold wind blow through the trees, sending a series of goose-bumps down her spine. Something was coming, she could feel it. Instinctively, she took off her pack, and slowly unzipped it; Gary watching every move she made curiously. She rummaged around in the pack until her hands felt something spherical touch her hand. She grabbed it and tugged it out, hoping for it to be the right one. She pressed the button on the red and white ball, enlarging it, before throwing it a couple inches ahead of herself. The ball snapped open, revealing a majestic looking Infernape; its flaming head lighting up the area. Infernape was easily recognised by anyone who knew it as Ash's Sinnoh-team powerhouse; and a powerhouse is just what they needed if they wanted to escape the forest alive.

"Dawn, what are you doing?!" Gary hissed at the coordinator, who stood glancing around her surroundings. She turned to him after another sweep of the area, Infernape doing the same.

"I think there's someone following us, and Infernape can protect us," she hissed back. The scientist shook his head, before replying.

"You're only going to draw more attention to us by using Infernape. If someone is following us, it could be that Pokémon that attacked us before, and if that is the case, even Infernape won't be able to-"he started, but was cut short as a ball of dark energy shot through the trees and landed a direct hit on the monkey, causing it to shriek in pain.

"Infernape!" Dawn shouted, and began running towards it, only to be held back by Gary. She turned to look at him, and noticed the seriousness on his face.

"Dawn, listen to me, that thing easily targeted Infernape and we don't even know where it is. Our best chance is to stick together," he whispered. Dawn looked hesitant, before giving a small nod. She glanced over to Infernape, who was struggling to his feet, looking for its attacker. Then Infernape did something unusual, and closed its eyes; after a few seconds, they snapped back open, and Infernape opened its mouth and breathed a billow of flames into the shrubbery to its side. Sure enough, the flames connected with something, and that something groaned in pain. Infernape let up its attack, and its target slowly emerged from the bushes it was hiding in. Its white, flame-like fur on its head rising first, followed by a blood red collar. It kept rising from the shrubbery, to reveal a small black body being supported by two long black legs. To Dawn, it looked familiar, however Gary was completely clueless about the seemingly unknown Pokémon. Infernape rushed over and stood in between the black Pokémon and Dawn, forming a protective barrier between. Dawn however, had other ideas, and walked around the stunned monkey, and slowly approached the Shadowy being in front of her. Said being braced itself, jumping into combat position, but Dawn kept walking, un-fazed. When she was close enough, she reached out and touched the Pokémon gently on its arm.

"Darkrai? Is that you?" she whispered, causing the Darkrai to recoil. How did she know his name? A flash of pink raced through his minds as he saw the girl running up a spiral staircase, before seeing her again in a heavily damaged garden, only this time she was holding a Piplup. Darkrai held its head, closing its eyes as the memories flashed across its mind. He saw time and space colliding, sending shockwaves around the town and destroying everything. What were these memories he was having? Why was he remembering things that had never happened; unless…

He opened his eyes, risking a glance at the familiar blue haired girl. He gazed into her sapphire eyes, and felt happy.

"Dawn?" the deep voice echoed in her mind. The coordinator smiled and nodded.

"So, you do remember me?" she winked. Darkrai slowly nodded his head, regaining his memories that were locked deep in his mind. He continued to look deep into her eyes, and let all of the anger flood away from him back into the darkness. Gary stepped forward, curious towards the nightmare Pokémon; at his approach, Darkrai tensed himself, ready to attack, only to be stopped by Dawn.

"Chill Darkrai, he's a friend," Dawn said, soothingly. Darkrai complied and relaxed; Gary, sensing the danger to be over, wearily walked over to them; with Darkrai watching carefully as he approached. Then a thought occurred to the coordinator. She turned back to Darkrai.

"Darkrai, what are you doing out here? Weren't you going to live in Alamos town?" she asked. The shadow Pokémon however, looked at her in confusion.

"Alamos…town?" he stuttered, the gruff voice echoing through hers and Gary's heads. Dawn nodded curiously. Why wasn't Darkrai remembering anything?

"Darkrai, do you remember anything from what happened in Alamos town?" she asked, dreading the answer. Darkrai thought for a moment, before replying mentally to her.

"I remember time and space colliding…you were there, and so was a boy…a young boy…with a Pikachu…" Darkrai thought to them. At hearing Pikachu's name, Dawn's bottom lip trembled, but she managed to compose herself before any tears escaped. She instead, nodded to Darkrai.

"Yes. Dialga and Palkia had a fight in Alamos town, and you saved all of our lives, at the cost of your own. But Ash, the boy you remember, convinced Palkia to return things back to how they were, and you came back," she explained, desperately hoping to jog his memory. Gary, meanwhile, thought quietly to himself. He hadn't been there with them, yet from what Dawn was describing, he had an idea of why Darkrai couldn't remember anything. He turned to Dawn, whispering into her ear.

"Dawn, from what you've said, it sounds like when Darkrai died, he lost all of his memories. That could be why he was out here. This forest is probably his home," he whispered. Dawn processed the information, before nodding and turning back to the nightmare Pokémon.

"Darkrai, why were you so mad at us before?" she asked. Even if Darkrai didn't remember who she was, wild Pokémon still don't just attack the first people they meet; meaning Darkrai had to have a reason to attack them. Sure enough, Darkrai's voice echoed through her head, answering her question.

"There was a trainer here before. He discovered my den and desecrated it with a lifeless corpse. I battled him, but he sent out the continent Pokémon to defend against me, while he continued to bury the mouse Pokémon," he explained, anger rising in his voice. Now that he thought about it, the trainer looked just like the trainer he suddenly remembered from back in Alamos town. Gary and Dawn both had the exact same thought, and simultaneously muttered a single word.

"Ash."

* * *

He kept moving north, avoiding eye contact with any passing trainers, a few of which actually challenged him, but he kept walking, ignoring the entire world. He spent far too much time in Vermillion, but it was worth it. Hopefully, he managed to delete Latias' Pokedex data before the professor saw. He stumbled across the delete feature when he got bored during a call to his mom, who was giving him another lecture on cleanliness. He pulled out his Pokedex and hooked it up to the computer on his desk in his Pokémon centre room, and after flicking through pages, came across the delete option. Even then professor didn't know about the delete feature, and he was the one who invented the Pokedex. But, he didn't invent the Hoenn one, and that's the Pokedex that Latias' data appeared in. He could pull up records of all the trainers' Pokedex' but he didn't know the features of the ones made outside Kanto.

Several hours of walking brought him to the underground pass that connected Vermillion city to Cerulean city. But Ash wasn't interested in the city itself. The reason he travelled all the way from Alto Mare was the cave just north of the water city. After wandering around the streets of Vermillion, he finally picked up on the info he required, and that info led him to the Cerulean cave; home to a supposed monster.

Without stopping for anyone, he walked down the stairs and entered the underground pass, Latias in tow. Ash forbids her of revealing her true form to anyone without his consent, and the tone he used scared her to death. He didn't ask her kindly; he demanded it, with little kindness being present in his voice. So, to avoid any trouble, Latias stayed in her Bianca disguise and followed the raven-haired trainer closely.

As the duo ventured further into the passage, less light was filtering down, and the only light source being the occasional flickering bulb on the ceiling. The road was straight; at least, therefore the possibility of becoming lost was extremely slim. But, it is Ash, wherever he goes there's a possibility of becoming lost.

Finally, after about an hour of walking, they arrived at the stairs that would lead them into the water city of Cerulean. Latias, eager to escape the constricting darkness of the underground, sped ahead of Ash, his league cap bouncing on her head as she ran. Ash shook his head, before racing off after her; and after nearly falling on the stairs, he emerged on the outskirts of the beautiful city, Latias already running towards it. Ash spotted her and sped after her, eventually catching her at the main gate into the city. Panting, he leaned against the fence stretching across either side of the main gate. Latias made giggling motions, catching Ash's eye.

"What's so funny?" he pouted. Latias giggled again; even though she'd noticed a dramatic change in Ash's personality, it was reassuring that underneath his newly formed cold exterior was the same child that visited her years ago.

"Well well, Ash Ketchum in the very flesh. I wonder if I'll get an autograph from the Sinnoh league semi-final qualifier," a voice spoke from behind him. Latias peeked over Ash's shoulder and literally jumped with joy. Ash turned around and caught a glimpse of red hair, before Latias practically barged him over to see the girl.

"Hello there Bianca," the girl said, earning yet another quiet giggle from the disguised Pokémon. Ash craned his neck to get a better view of the new arrival, from his not so comfy position on the floor.

"Misty?" he said, as he clambered to his feet. The red head turned to Ash, a smile etched on her face.

"Hey Ash, long time no see," she greeted properly. She glanced over to Latias, then back to Ash.

"Hey Ash, why is Bianca travelling with you?" she asked, still exchanging glances between them. Ash shook his head, before looking Misty in the eyes. The sight she saw sent shivers down her spine, like so many other people that gazed into the harsh bitter eyes the usually joyous trainer harboured. Misty dismissed the thought, making a mental note to talk to Ash later.

"This isn't Bianca, this is Latias," he explained blankly, with little, if any, emotion in his voice. Misty blinked several times, processing the information.

"Latias?" she asked, turning her gaze to the silent girl; who exchanged looks with her trainer, and with a nod of his head, Latias turned back to Misty and transformed. A blue light enveloped her, and after a few seconds, the legendary Eon dragon stood in place of the girl. Misty glanced over to Ash, who was watching Latias carefully. He glanced towards Misty, his cold orbs scanning her form.

"I'll explain everything later. I'm going to the Pokémon centre. It was nice seeing you again," he said, before turning back to Latias, who watched the exchange in curiosity.

"Latias transform," Ash ordered. Complying with her masters request, Latias transformed back into a replica of Bianca. Ash set off through the main gates behind Misty, Latias following closely. Risking one last glance back at the water Pokémon trainer, Latias continued following her trainer to the Pokémon centre, leaving the red head behind in the slowly setting sun. After a long day of travelling, she was ready for a rest. Misty watched their retreating forms, lost in thought. The boy she travelled with long ago was gone. She didn't even know who this boy was, but it certainly wasn't Ash. She could tell that by just looking into his eyes. They were so cold, it unnerved her.

"Ash, what happened to you?" she muttered to the evening.

* * *

The trainer watched as the orange dragon-like Pokémon weaved through the sky, cutting through the clouds towards him, before coming down to land just behind the trainer. The Charizard was getting slightly annoyed at the tasks his trainer was setting for him, but he would do them nonetheless. He held out his claw, revealing a pokeball. The trainer took the ball and threw it onto the ground, revealing a purple fox-like Pokémon, with a jewel encrusted in its forehead.

"Espeon!" it exclaimed upon arrival. It noticed its trainer stood there and ran over to him, easily dancing through the thick snow towards her trainer. He knelt down, and looked directly into the psychic type's eyes, which started glowing slightly. All of a sudden, the mountain disappeared and they were inside a fire-lit room, with a bunk bed on one side and a desk with a computer on the other. The room was occupied by two people: a boy and a girl. The boy was easily recognised, as he sat on the bed flicking through his Pokedex. The girl, however, was unknown. She stared at Ash whilst he was flicking through pages on his Pokedex, looking for the correct one. The trainer and the Espeon moved closer to the boy, allowing Espeon's extraordinary psychic skills to be fully exposed. He looked into the trainers eyes, and saw an all too familiar coldness in them. He turned to Espeon, silently commanding her to stop her Psychic, and they returned back to the mountain. He picked up the pokeball that was still lying on the ground, and returned the psychic type. He turned to face the sky once again. Was he already too late? And who was that girl he was with? He knew of only one person who would know the answer to the many questions circling his mind. He turned to Charizard and gazed into his fiery eyes. After a couple of seconds, Charizard nodded, before beating his powerful wings and taking off in flight, once again cutting a path through the clouds. _'Please hurry Charizard', _he thought.

"Hey you! Want to have a battle!" a voice shouted through the wind. He gave a silent sigh, before turning to face his latest challenger, who was surprisingly dressed in a red t-shirt and grey shorts. What an idiot, coming onto the harshest mountain in the world in shorts and t-shirt. He plucked and threw a ball from his belt, releasing the yellow mouse from its ball. He was really getting fed up of battling pathetic trainers. At the sight of the so called "unbeatable trainer" releasing a little Pikachu, the newcomer laughed.

"Is that all you've got? You have got to be kidding me!" he laughed, and threw a pokeball. Snapping open, the ball revealed an angry looking dragon, with solid red wings and blue fur covering most of its body.

"Salamence!" it shrieked. Pikachu smirked, thinking the exact same thing its trainer was thinking: This was going to be too easy.

* * *

**Done! Took me a while to write this chapter, and so far, it's the longest chapter I've wrote, taking up 7 pages of size 11 font on word. But as my old English teacher used to say: Quality before Quantity. I hope I've managed to deliver both to you with this instalment. I've even included a history lesson for those of you who haven't seen Pokemon movie 10: The rise of Darkrai. **

**Why is Ash heading to Cerulean cave? That's pretty easy to guess and for anyone who can't tell where I'm going with the story, shame on you!**

**...Just kidding. **

**Where is Charizard going? **

**How is Misty going to react with Ash's change?**

**All these questions will be answered in good time, my friends. Until next time!**

**Review please, It only takes a minute :D**


	7. The Test

**And it is surprisingly done on time! I've had a lot to do this week, but somehow I managed to squeeze in writing, and so far, I think this is the best chapter I've wrote. This is my first attempt at a battle...Well, real battle that doesn't end in a famous, lovable mascot dying. Hope you guys enjoy :)**

* * *

"Come on Misty, you haven't even, like, touched your food," a blond haired woman sighed at the red head, who was twirling her spoon in her cereal. She hadn't even eaten a single bite. Daisy sat down next to her, putting her arm around the upset gym leader.

"Misty, like, what's wrong?" she said. Misty dropped her spoon and sighed. She could never keep anything from her sisters, so it was pointless pretending everything was ok. She turned to Daisy, who was smiling warmly towards her. Taking a deep breath, she began.

"Well, you remember Ash, right?" she asked, which was answered with a nod. Of course Daisy remembered Ash. Although he was a lot younger than her, she still thought he was cute.

"Well, I saw him yesterday, and he seemed…different," she said sadly. Daisy rubbed her back gently, comforting her.

"Hey, everyone changes. It has been a long time since you last, like, saw him," she responded. Misty shook her head, before looking down to the floor.

"He's colder now. If it weren't for his looks, I wouldn't have even recognised him," she muttered. Daisy stared at the girl, knowing she wasn't going to win the argument. She stood up, and looked out the window at the morning sun shining gently down, cascading over the land in a warm glow, and she noticed a trainer and a girl walking towards the gym.

"Hey Misty, like, I think you have another challenge," Daisy said, turning to the red head. She sighed, before standing up and walking towards the front door. Daisy remained in the kitchen, watching the scene from the window. The front door of the gym slid open, and Misty walked out to greet her latest challenger. However, when she looked up, her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"Hello Misty," Ash greeted. Misty noticed the absence of a smile, and greeted him in return.

"So, what are you doing here Ash?" she asked, hoping the boy was here to explain his recent personality changes. She took notice that Pikachu was still absent, which she found strange, considering how close Ash and Pikachu were. Ash turned to Latias, before nodding his head. Latias nodded back, and a blue light enveloped her. After a few seconds, the light had died down, and Latias' true form exploded into view. Ash turned back to a rather confused Misty.

"We're here for a battle," he said simply.

* * *

"How much further now Darkrai?" she whined. Gary shook his head, used to her whining. Darkrai ploughed on, floating above the shrubbery elegantly.

"We're nearly there," he said, projecting his voice through their heads. Gary nodded and continued following. Dawn slumped, hanging her head low; great, more walking. She trudged on, following the nightmare Pokémon to its home deep within the forest. Reluctantly, Dawn agreed to abandon her pursuit of escaping the cold foliage and agreed visit Darkrai's den, where apparently, Ash had been.

"We're here," the nightmare Pokémon echoed through their minds, as they came to a halt in a small clearing. Darkrai floated to the centre of the small clearing and turned right, where a gap in the trees revealed a much larger clearing, filled with a crystal blue lake; on the bench of the lake stood a mound of dirt with a rock at the head. Dawn and Gary followed Darkrai to the make-shift grave, which was rather small; the perfect size for a mouse. Gary knelt down and began scraping at the dirt mound, clearing a visible path to the small mouse buried within. As Darkrai had said, this was indeed a Pikachu, and judging from its size and the fact it had yet to decompose, it must be Ash's. He picked up the lifeless Pokémon, causing Dawn to look away in horror.

"Gary, what are you doing?" she whimpered. Gary stood up, cradling the electric type.

"Even if this is Ash's Pikachu, we can't leave it buried here. This is Darkrai's home, after all," he explained, and began walking to the other side of the lake, Darkrai following. Not wanting to be left behind, Dawn reluctantly followed.

After several minutes of walking, Darkrai stopped Gary, telling him that this was far enough away from his home to bury the little mouse. Gary nodded, and walked to the water's edge. He scooped up some moist dirt, testing If this place was suitable to bury the mouse, before scraping away at the dirt, forming a small hole which he placed the Pokémon in. Dawn came over to help him bury the hole with the small mound of dirt, and briefly complained that she was getting her hands dirty. When the job was done, Gary placed the small rock from the original grave, over this one, placing it at the head of the dirt mound.

"Rest in peace, Pikachu," Gary muttered, before turning to Darkrai. The nightmare Pokémon nodded to the scientist, thanking him for his help.

"Thank you both. My home is now cleansed, and free from desecration," he echoed, earning a nod from both the coordinator and the scientist.

"Darkrai, you don't happen to know the way out, do you?" Gary asked hopefully; he didn't want to spend another night in this forest with Dawn constantly whining at him over something. To his relief, Darkrai nodded, and beckoned them to follow him. Shortly, they would finally reach the end of the forest, and their hunt for Ash would continue.

* * *

Misty stared across the water battlefield at her latest challenger in disbelief. He stood there, his cold gaze fixed on the water gym leader, trying to work out a winning strategy. The referee climbed up to his podium suspended several feet above the huge tank of water that formed the battlefield, before he began announcing the rules.

"This will be a one-on-one battle between Ash Ketchum from Pallet town and Misty Waterflower, our very own gym leader from Cerulean city. Both trainers please present their Pokémon," he stated, speaking to both the trainers. Latias stood next to Ash, and let a blue light envelop her being, allowing the transformation to take place. When Latias' true form was revealed, the referee nearly dropped his flags into the pool with a mixture of shock and awe at the legendary. Latias giggled, before floating over the pool on Ash's side.

The referee managed to compose himself and looked at Misty, awaiting her choice. It was unusual that the challenger selected first, but he allowed it. Misty thought for a moment, before plucking a ball from her pocket of her yellow shorts, and throwing it at the water, releasing the huge blue and white snake-like atrocious Pokémon; Gyrados. It dived out of the pool, its body flailing madly as its flew through the air and landed with a large splash in the centre of the pool. It was clear that Ash wanted to test Latias' combat capabilities, and Misty was going to do everything in her power to give Ash one of the toughest challenges he's ever had.

Ash smirked, guessing Misty would choose the atrocious Pokémon. He turned to Latias, who nodded at him, confirming she was ready. The referee nodded, and raised his flags.

"Let the battle commence!" he said, slamming the flags down, indicating the start of the battle. Misty used her initiative and attacked first.

"Ok Gyrados use water gun!" she shouted. The atrocious Pokémon stuck its head out of the water and fired a jet of water at the dragon type, floating calmly above the surface. She wanted to move out of the way of the attack, but waited for Ash's command.

"Latias use Psychic, send the attack back," Ash said calmly, confident his legendary dragon could perform this simple task. Latias' eyes shone a bright blue, and the water gun attack soon flowed with the same Psychic energy, as Latias manipulated the powerful jet of water and redirected it back at the atrocious Pokémon; Misty, however, was well prepared.

"Gyrados, dive into the water!" she shouted. Gyrados nodded, before diving as deep as possible into the large pool, making the water gun miss by mere seconds. Ash, however, had other plans.

"Latias freeze the surface with Ice beam," Ash said, rather bored. He was hoping Misty could battle better than that. Latias fired 3 zigzag beams of pure ice energy, freezing the water solid with impact. Misty's eyes widened when she realized what Ash was trying to do.

"Gyrados break the ice, quick!" she shouted desperately, and the atrocious Pokémon proceeded to thrashing its tail against the thick ice forming over the surface. After a few seconds of pounding, it managed to break the ice just enough to charge through, but this is what Ash wanted. In the time it took Gyrados to break through the ice on Misty's side of the field, Latias had covered the rest of the field in a thick blanket of Ice. Now Gyrados was a sitting Psyduck, waiting to be attacked. This, however, still didn't discourage the red head, as she ordered Gyrados to attack once more.

"Alright Gyrados use Surf to clear the field!" she yelled, and seconds later, water formed underneath the water and flying type. Gyrados began riding the fast-forming water as it ploughed through the ice like a hot knife through butter. This move surprised Ash, since Surf was a newly taught move for Gyrados, but remained confident that he still had control of the battle. And if things did get too tough, he always had that move Latias told him about as a back-up.

The dragon had been training hard in Alto Mare, and apparently, a blue haired trainer and her Dragonair helped her learn some of the most powerful dragon-type moves ever known. She couldn't, however, teach Psychic type moves, but this didn't discourage Latias from learning herself, and quickly learnt some powerful Psychic moves.

"Gyrados Hydro pump!" Misty shouted. The atrocious Pokémon complied, and fired an extremely powerful torrent of water at Latias. Ash was quick to think, and easily found a counter for the powerful attack.

"Latias use Dragon pulse to weaken the power of its attack, and then use Psychic to grab it," he ordered, and moments later, Latias fired a ball of concentrated draconic energy at the huge torrent of water, momentarily stopping its onslaught. Not a moment too soon, Latias radiated Psychic energy towards the water charging towards her, as she concentrated on grabbing it with her mind. The Hydro pump slowed down and gradually stopped, and Misty's mouth literally dropped in shock. Gyrados' Hydro pump was nearly unstoppable, and he managed to stop it so easily? Ash smirked, before getting another idea.

"Latias, fire the Hydro pump to the ceiling, and then freeze it with Ice beam," he ordered. Latias looked at him, confused as to why he would order such an attack. Nonetheless, she complied with his request and launched the water up to the roof, before freezing it quickly, creating a long Stalactite of ice.

"Now use Dragon pulse and run," he said. Latias, getting his idea, braced herself, before firing off the green orb of draconic energy towards the ice. Misty, finally realising what Ash was doing, ordered Gyrados to dive as fast as possible, but the atrocious Pokémon wasn't fast enough, as the Dragon pulse exploded the ice, sending icicles showering down over the field, penetrating the water easily. Gyrados screamed in agony as several chunks of ice tore through its thick scales, causing severe damage due to type disadvantage. After several seconds, Misty deemed it safe enough and looked up from covering her face to see her water and flying type lying belly up on the surface of the water. The referee was climbing back up to his podium, after cowering as the pools edge to avoid being hit by any ice. Latias, who had been hiding above the giant icicle, floated down and hovered next to her trainer, a happy smile on its face.

"Latias use Dragon pulse," Ash said, startling Latias. She already won, why was he ordering her to attack? She stared at her trainer, who continued looking at the beat-up Gyrados, Misty waiting for the referee to regain his place and make his decision.

"Don't doubt me, just do it," he snarled. The Eon Pokémon shivered in fear at the cold tone in his voice. He glanced over to Gyrados, who was still lying helpless on the floor, and by this point, Misty heard what Ash was wanting Latias to do. Reluctantly, the dragon charged up an orb of draconic energy in her claws, and after a few seconds hesitation, fired it, hoping Misty would do something to stop it. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see the destruction she caused; but it never came. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes to see Misty holding a pokeball in her hand, and Gyrados was nowhere to be seen. She sighed in relief, knowing her attack missed its target.

Misty lowered her pokeball slowly, before snapping her eyes towards the Pallet town trainer.

"What the heck do you think you were doing? You already won! Why did you attack Gyrados again? You have some nerve!" she yelled, her face matching her red hair as anger welled up. Ash stared at her blankly, with his cold eyes, but Misty failed to notice them. When she was this angry, she could probably miss Groudon and Kyogre brawling just outside the window and not even notice a thing.

"The referee hadn't made his final call," he said simply, before turning and walking away. Latias stayed where she was, waving apologetically to the water Pokémon trainer, before quickly transforming into her Bianca guise and followed her trainer. As they were walking, Latias prodded her trainer in the side, gaining his attention. She looked at him pleadingly, silently asking him why he ordered her to attack. He stared into her eyes, sending his chilling soul through his gaze into Latias' mind. He shrugged and continued walking, silently thinking to himself. Maybe it was wrong of him to continue attacking Gyrados…

No, he had to remain strong, if he was ever going to avenge him; his partner, his best friend…now he couldn't even say his name without sadness flooding into his mind, taking over and drowning him in a pool of misery. He shook the thought from his head and continued walking; next stop, Cerulean cave.

* * *

Misty stared at the pokeball in her hand, a sad look etched on her face. She hoped that Ash would return to normal in the battle, but somehow, he seemed worse than before. She shivered, wondering just what happened. She thought to the trainer she had met oh so long ago, when she fished him out of the river, literally. He was desperate to get to a pokemon centre after his Pikachu got seriously wounded with a fight against a flock of Spearow.

Pikachu…where was he? It wasn't like Ash and Pikachu to be separated. Maybe team rocket got him finally? Nah, those three idiots can't do anything right. But what did happen to make the trainer she knew and loved for so long to just change? She pocketed her pokeball and turned to the referee, who by now had returned to his post, a look of confusion on his face as the challenger seemingly disappeared.

"Thanks for the help, great work," she said, before climbing down the ladder at the back of her podium, and skulking off into the bowels of the gym, in pursuit of a phone.

* * *

"How much further? I think my legs are going to drop off!" Dawn complained for the hundredth time today. Gary sighed, very much used to her moaning from the past 48 hours they had spent together. Darkrai floated along, leading the group towards the edge of the forest, where they would hopefully find the way back to Silver town. Not getting an answer from anybody, Dawn sighed, and continued plodding along behind them. They continued in silence for the next several minutes, until Gary broke the eerie silence.

"Dawn, you might want to look ahead. I think you'll be pleased," Gary chuckled. The coordinator raised her head from the floor, and spied a light through the trees. Immediately, she leapt towards the light as fast as she could go, ignoring Gary's shouts to slow down, meanwhile getting the strangest sense of déjà vu. This time, however, she was a little more cautious when she stepped out of the forest's thick foliage. Blinded momentarily, Dawn squinted into the distance, as fields of grass started to materialise in the afternoon sun. She was back where she started. She turned to look at the scientist, who was panting heavily after giving chase to the surprisingly quick coordinator. The nightmare Pokémon floated gently by his side.

"Silver town is straight down the path. I shall make my leave now. Goodbye Dawn," he echoed, before turning and heading back into the dark forest. Gary suddenly felt a buzzing in his pocket, and fished out the yellow Pokenav that had supposedly died several hours earlier, which was now full of life as the screen brightly displayed a map.

"Huh, must've been Darkrai…"he muttered, too quiet for Dawn to hear; not that she cared anyway, since she was too busy running around the fields in delight of seeing the sun again. Gary pocketed the Pokenav, before turning to Dawn.

"Hey, let's go already. If we want to catch up to Ash, then we have to move-," he was cut short, as a beeping noise emanated from his pocket. Grumbling about technology being a nuisance, he fished out the Pokenav, and was surprised to see an incoming call from his Grandpa. He accepted the call, and held the phone up to his ear.

"Gramps, what's up?" he asked. Several seconds of silence passed, in which Dawn finally stopped prancing around and approached the scientist, waiting intently for the call to end.

"So he's in Cerulean? Okay, we're on our way," he said, before hanging up and dropping the Pokenav into his pocket once more. He turned to Dawn, who was curious to know who was on the call.

"That was Grandpa. He said he got a call from an old friend from the Cerulean gym. She said that Ash had used Latias in a battle against her, before leaving without saying a word. And she said he seemed different," he relayed his conversation back to her.

"So, the short version would be?" she asked, wanting the scientist to clarify her thoughts.

"Long story short, Ashy-boy has made it to Cerulean," Gary said. Dawn chuckled at hearing Ash's nickname for the first time, before a thought snapped her out of it.

"Gary?" she asked.

"Hm?"

"Can I have my Pokenav back please?" she huffed. The scientist mentally face-palmed, before fishing out the Pokenav once more and handing it to the coordinator, who threw it in her back-pack without a care for damaging the old device.

"Are we ready to go now?" she asked, and was confirmed by a nod from the scientist. They began their walk back to silver town, their next destination, Cerulean city, and Ash Ketchum.

* * *

The trainer pulled out a pokeball, muttering angrily to himself as he recalled his downed Pokémon and walking out of the gym in a huff. The gym leader sighed. He was so sick of fighting weak trainers. Being the 8th gym in Kanto, he was naturally a really powerful Pokémon trainer, and because of his power, he always found challengers to be too weak to even knock out his first Pokémon. He recalled his Arcanine in a flash of red light from the pokeball, before pocketing it.

"Great battle as always, Arcanine," he muttered to no one in particular. He was about to turn and leave the arena, when a scream from the waiting room caught his attention. He quickly dashed across the field and through the door leading to the reception area at the front of the gym, and to his surprise saw 2 things; one of which almost made him explode in laughter. Cowering behind the reception desk, his receptionist pointed a very shaky finger at the orange dragon-like creature that had walked through the front doors. She was amazed his tail hadn't set the whole gym on fire. He shook his head, before turning to the Charizard, who was amused at this human female cowering in fear at him.

"Hey Charizard, long time no see," he smiled, and was greeted by a happy huff from the large Pokémon in front.

"So, what brings you here?" he asked, and the Charizard pointed out the door, as if telling him to go outside. Getting the message, the gym leader walked through the front door, followed by the Pokémon, who stretched his wings as soon as he was out in the open. He hated tight spaces. The gym leader turned to Charizard, wondering why it led him out here, but before he could inquire, Charizard pointed to the sky and flapped his powerful wings. The gym leader sighed. He should've known.

"Alright, alright, give me a second will ya? I need to close the gym," he said, turning back to his gym and disappearing from sight as he entered, leaving Charizard stood waiting rather impatiently. After several minutes, the gym leader, followed by all his staff approached; the receptionist being the last to leave and placing a "closed" sign on the door, before running off back home. Charizard stopped tapping his foot on the ground when the gym leader finally arrived.

"Ok, ready to go," he said. Charizard nodded and lowered itself close to the ground, to allow the gym leader to climb on. He swiftly climbed onto his back, more than used to flying at this point in time, and not a moment too soon, Charizard beat his powerful wings, sending dust flying around him and a second later, they were airborne, climbing higher and higher into the afternoon sun. The gym leader didn't know why his long-time friend from Pallet town had sent his Charizard, and he didn't know where he was being taken, but he knew his rival like a well-read book, and he knew there was something wrong; and he was going to get to the bottom of things.

"No need to worry, 'cause Green is on the scene," he muttered, as he slowly shrunk into the horizon.

* * *

**In case you're wondering who Green is, Green is Red's rival. You may know him as blue, but I'm going by his manga name, which is Green. If you really have a problem with it, just replace "Green" with "Blue". **

**So, Gary and Dawn are finally out of the forest, after some assistance from a friend. And they even know where Ash is. But, will they get to him in time? Only I know :)**

**Next chapter will see Ash venturing into the mysterious Cerulean cave! *Waves hands for dramatic effect*...Eh, worth a try -_-'**

**As always, please leave a review, it only takes a second :) **


	8. The Psychic

**And finally I finish chapter 8. This is my longest chapter to date, including the introduction to 4 familiar faces, a battle, and some emotional conflict. Hope you enjoy. Read and review please :)**

* * *

Cerulean cave loomed above the raven haired boy and his Pokémon companion, looking menacingly at ash through its cave mouth of stalagmites and stalactites. Still, this didn't sway the boy as he pushed on further, Latias in tow. When they entered the cave mouth, Latias immediately shivered. This place scared the red and white dragon, its darkness felt like it was suffocating her. She huddled closer to her trainer, stretching her human arms around his waist, hugging him, trying to feel comforted. Ash didn't care; however, as he gently pushed her off of him.

"Latias transform. If there's trouble, I'll need you to defend me, but stay invisible," he said, no emotion present in his cold voice. Latias shivered once more, this time, the cave had nothing to do with it. The cave lit up momentarily as Latias transformed in a brilliant blue cascade of lights, and in a few seconds stood, or rather floated, the Eon dragon.

Ash fumbled around in his pocket, and pulled out the little red device known as the Pokedex. He was sure it had a flashlight app on it. He flicked through some pages, and eventually found the one he was looking for, and moments later, the cave was flooded with light from the small device, as its flashlight function came into effect.

"Come on, let's go. He can't be too far away," he said blankly, before walking forward. Latias shivered for the third time in minutes, before following her trainer further into the darkness. Her empathic powers were picking up on extreme joy somewhere nearby, and she knew it couldn't be Ash. She sensed he was feeling guilty for attacking Gyarados like he did.

Brushing the thought away from her mind, she followed her trainer, unbeknown to both of them, that 3 pairs of eyes were following them in the darkness.

"Hehe, bugging that gym ages ago turned out to be useful after all," a woman sniggered. The man next to her laughed quietly.

"Yeah, now we can follow the twerp and snag Pikachu when he's too tired out from exploring and can't do a thing about it," he giggled rather girlishly. The cat-like Pokémon chuckled.

"Yeah, dat twoip won't know what him im!" he yelled, pumping his paw into the air, only to be snapped away by the other two members.

"Keep it down, do you want to be discovered!" the woman hissed, knocking him on the head to emphasise her point. Grunting in pain, the scratch cat Pokémon complied and remained silent, as the trio watched Ash from the safety of the shadows.

* * *

"So, you finally made it to a Pokémon centre?" the old professor cheerfully said. His grandson nodded, not really wanting to start small-talk.

"Gramps, do me a favour, can you send me Arcanine, Blastoise, Alakazam, Electivire and Nidoqueen please?" he asked. The senior professor nodded before disappearing from the screen to collect the Pokémon. Gary turned to Dawn, who was watching in quiet awe at actually seeing the famous professor Pokémon.

"How about we spend the day here, getting rested up, and setting out to Cerulean tomorrow?" he asked. The coordinator immediately shook her head.

"No, we need to catch up to Ash," she said firmly. Gary chuckled, causing the coordinator to cock her head.

"You do realise that Alakazam is one of the most powerful psychic types in existence, being only rivalled by legendaries?" he asked, a confident smirk adorned his face. Dawn nodded hesitantly, trying to figure out his point.

"Well, since Alakazam is so powerful, he can just use Teleport to get us straight to Cerulean. That way, we can get there a lot faster," he said proudly. Dawn thought for a moment. It was true that Alakazam was a strong psychic type, but was it really strong enough to teleport two people all the way to Cerulean city? She looked down, noticing for the first time just how muddy she was from spending the past few days in a forest.

"Alright, we can spend the day here. I could really do with a shower right now," she moaned. Gary rolled his eyes, before his attention was turned to his grandpa returning to the video phone.

"Alright Gary, they're all on the way. Since you don't have any pokeballs on you other than Umbreon's, I've overridden the system to allow a one-way transfer," the scientist explained. Gary smiled, nodding to the professor.

"Thanks gramps. Talk to you soon," he said, before closing the chat channel, sending the screen into hibernation mode. A few seconds later, the machine at the side of the video-phone whirred into life, and soon, a pokeball materialised in the tray underneath the small machine. Gary picked it up, before clipping it onto his belt. Soon after, another materialised. The process repeated until all five pokeballs were safely clipped onto his belt. He turned to find Dawn, who was nowhere to be seen. Figuring she already went to find a shower, he walked over to reception, where Nurse Joy was waiting.

"Do you have any rooms left for today for two people?" he asked, cutting straight to the point. The nurse nodded, before ducking under the counter and reappearing moments later holding a key.

"Thanks. Also, could you look after my Pokémon? He got injured earlier," he explained. The nurse nodded, and Gary handed her Umbreon's pokeball, before disappearing into the bowels of the centre in pursuit of the shower room.

After several minutes of searching, he found it. Since it was ladies only, he couldn't walk in, so resorted to knocking on the door.

"Yeah?" a voice shouted from behind the door.

"Dawn, is that you?" he asked, hoping he hadn't interrupted anyone else. Relief came, as conformation arrived to his ears moments later.

"Yeah it's me, what do you want? I'm kind of busy here," she said, rather grumpily. Gary shook his head with an amused smile.

"I just came to tell you our room number. It's 102, I'll meet you there when you're done," he said. Dawn grunted a reply, and the scientist wandered off to find his room. He'd get a shower when she was done. Unlike her, he didn't want to wander off and leave her guessing his whereabouts. They deserved a day's rest, since tomorrow, they'd finally start their pursuit of the Pallet town trainer, and they need all the strength they can get.

* * *

Thud, thud, thud; something was coming, and whatever it was, it was big. Every step the thing took caused the whole cave to shake. Even Latias, who was floating in the air could feel the vibrations chattering her teeth. It was close, very close; they just didn't know what it was. The darkness of the cave shielded it from view, and not even the powerful torch of the Pokedex could penetrate far enough through the suffocating darkness that lay ahead. But this didn't discourage Ash. He still had a Pokémon, albeit a young one, but a strong fighter nonetheless. Tensing himself, he whispered to Latias, who was hovering just next to the boy.

"Latias, when that thing shows itself, grab hold of it with psychic then attack using your new move so we can escape," he uttered loud enough for the Eon Pokémon to hear him. She nodded in conformation, before mentally face-palming; he couldn't see her. Nonetheless, she braced herself, as the thing slowly came closer and closer. A stomach lurching cry emitted from the thing creeping closer in the shadows, sending chills down Latias' spine. Ash remained unfazed, as he scanned the darkness, trying to spot their enemy. Two blood red eyes cut through the darkness and pierced his mind, making him flinch. Still, he remained composed, and waited for the thing to reveal itself.

The demonic eyes came closer, and soon, a series of blue lights shone dully through the darkness. This thing was huge! Ash was amazed it could even fit inside the cave. All he could see of it was a series of connected blue lights, shining through the gaps in the armour-like body. Latias recoiled, fearing for their lives, as she stared into the furious red eyes of the demonic beast slowly approaching.

Then, a flash of red light flew through the cave, as the thing launched a flamethrower high into the air, illuminating the cave, and giving Ash and Latias a heart attack. The flamethrower threw its light through the cave, allowing them to see the monster that had been stalking them. To their horror, the beast was revealed to be a Pokémon Ash had fought alongside years ago, whilst journeying through Hoenn. This Pokémon was responsible for raising the lands out of the sea. Ash analysed just what he was seeing, and no matter which way he thought about it, his thoughts remained centred on one fact; he was staring into the hellish eyes of the continent Pokémon, Groudon.

He didn't know how this was possible, but it was. The simple fact was that he was looking at one of the strongest Pokémon ever known, and all he had was Latias, who at this point looked as terrified as a Bonsly in a lake. Was this the monster he was hearing rumours about? If so, then all he could do now was pray for a miracle.

"Latias, if we're going to get out of this alive, you have to do as I say," warned Ash. Latias gave a very hesitant nod, not liking the tone in Ash's voice. But, it was either listen to her trainer, or risk facing that thing on her own, and judging from the stories her brother had told her about Groudon, she was sure she wouldn't come out of the fight alive. She prepared herself, tensing every muscle in her body, readying any possible attack Ash ordered.

"Alright, first I want you to-"he began, but was cut short as the cave started trembling with extreme amounts of force. Groudon arched his back, and let out a mighty roar that would make Arceus himself flinch in terror. With a powerful surge of energy, sharp stalagmites shot from the ground, as Groudon's rock tomb attack came into effect, trying to ensnare the Eon dragon. Luckily, she floated to safety, narrowly dodging a rock that came charging through the ground towards her.

"Latias use Mist ball on the floor in front of Groudon!" he yelled, trying to make himself heard over the roar of the rocks still trying to reach Latias. Mustering as much psychic energy she could, a ball of psychic mist formed in her claws, which slowly grew as the seconds ticked away. Then, with a mighty throw, she launched the ball of mist at the ground directly in front of the continent Pokémon. Within seconds, the cave was consumed by a mist, enhanced with psychic energy. Latias used Safeguard at the last minute to protect herself and her trainer.

"Now use dragon pulse at his feet," he ordered; a plan to incapacitate the giant Pokémon sprung to his mind. Confused, Latias started charging a ball of green draconic energy between her claws, before releasing the energy and firing the ball at Groudon's feet, which was still blinded by the Mist ball. The draconic energy crashed against the ground at the mighty Pokémon's feet, exploding on impact and causing the extremely heavy Pokémon to sink into the ground; even this didn't work. Even though Groudon was unable to move, he could still attack; he fired a beam of pure white fire directly at the Eon dragon, somehow managing to identify her through the mist still swirling around the cavern. The Overheat came closer and closer, with as much force to turn rock into glass. Seconds later, the Eon Pokémon shrieked in pain, as the attack consumed her.

"Latias, use psychic to dispel the fire!" Ash shouted, concerned for his Pokémon's welfare. Seconds passed, as Latias gathered as much energy as she could, before expelling it psychically, diminishing the flames to mere embers. Her body was heavily burnt, and she was extremely exhausted, but remained floating weakly, panting.

"Latias, fire Ice beam gently into the air," Ash said, once again thinking outside the box. Latias gathered the remainder of her strength and fired a very weak Ice beam into the air above her, and just as Ash had planned, the 3 jagged lines of ice energy condensed into a cooling mist, thanks to the heat still lingering from the overheat attack. The mist hugged Latias, cooling her nerves, restoring her strength. She wasn't out of the fight just yet.

Ash scanned the dimly lit cave, being illuminated only by the light from his Pokedex, which was now sticking out of the front pocket of his jumper, with the torch shining out. He noticed all the loose rocks littering the cave floor, which were jarred loose from Groudon's rock tomb attack.

"Latias use psychic to lift the rocks, and slam them down on Groudon," he ordered. Not a moment too soon, Latias' eyes started glowing, and sure enough, the rocks began to glow the same psychic blue colour. Manipulating the rocks with her mind, Latias moved them over to Groudon, who was desperately trying to free his leg from the crater of jagged rocks that encased it. With a final exertion, Latias sent all the rocks flying towards the colossal Pokémon, encasing it in a make-shift tomb.

"Latias, finish this with ice beam. Make sure it can't follow us," Ash said calmly. Latias gathered the remainder of her strength and fired 3 jagged beams of concentrated ice energy at the rocks encasing the colossal Pokémon. As soon as the attack made contact, the rocks crystallised, trapping the continent Pokémon within a case of rock and ice. Ash knew it wouldn't stay like that forever, considering the heat from Groudon's Overheat attack was still lingering, already melting the ice.

"Come on, we need to find him and get out of here," he said. Latias nodded, and returned to his side, as they ventured further into the cave; 3 pairs of eyes were watching their last battle intently.

"Dude, when did da twoip get a Latias?" the scratch cat Pokémon exclaimed, only to receive another bonk on the head from a rather frustrated woman.

"Will you be quiet? I don't want to get caught by that thing!" she hissed.

"Wait, what if we set our sights on Latias?" the man mused, giving the scratch cat an idea.

"Yeah! Imagine if we gave dat to da boss! Not only would he have a super powerful Pokémon to fight in his gym battles, he'd also have everything he ever wanted, thanks to Latias' Psychic! And you know what that means?" he asked, excitement rising. All three turned to face the legendary, slowly venturing further into the darkness.

"Money, money, money! We're gonna be rich!" they exclaimed simultaneously.

He ventured further into the cave, and miraculously, after an hour of walking, he could see a light ahead of the dark and dreary tunnel he had found himself in. Hoping his target was there, he headed for the light, Latias invisibly following him.

Together, they ventured into the light, and temporarily blinded, stopped walking to let their eyes adjust. What they did see, however, completely blew their minds. Although they were deep inside a mountain (Mt. Moon to be exact), light was illuminating a huge chasm, reaching out into the darkness and sending the shadows cowering in fear; stepping into the chasm, Ash scanned the walls, seeing blue crystals emanating light into the surroundings.

"So that's how it's lit," he muttered. He glanced towards the hill in the middle of the chasm, and surprisingly, the hill was blanketed with a sheet of forest green grass. Atop the hill, a creature caught Ash's eye. He began his journey up the hill, Latias following closely. She was nervous, extremely nervous. Not an hour had passed since she had been fighting for her life against a Groudon, who knows what else could be hiding in here.

Ash pushed on further, his sights set on the strange creature atop the hill. As he drew near, the human like creature opened its cat-like eyes, revealing two white orbs, radiating power. He had sensed humans in his cave, and was extremely surprised to see none other than the trainer who had saved his life in the Johto region.

"Hello Ash. It's been a long time," he said telepathically, his strong voice echoing through their minds. Ash nodded to the pokemon, greeting the old friend.

"Hello Mewtwo. I've gotta tell you, you're a lot harder to reach than I thought," he said, referring mentally to the Groudon that attacked them. Mewtwo nodded, before replying.

"The Groudon you saw was merely an illusion made by myself to scare away any trespassers," he explained. Ash thought about it, before deciding his claims were true.

"So, that Groudon was a fake?" he asked, wanting the powerful psychic type to confirm his question.

"Yes, it was a fake. The real thing wouldn't have been nearly as easy to defeat," he calmly echoed. Ash nodded; slightly hurt knowing that he had only defeated an illusion.

"And hello to you too, Latias," Mewtwo thought out to them, surprising both Ash and the Eon dragon, who was currently floating invisibly beside Ash.

"But, how did you know she was there?" he asked, shocked that he knew her location so easily.

"Ash, I am the most powerful Psychic type in existence. I could sense her presence even before she entered Cerulean cave. I wasn't however, expecting you. I sensed a human, but due to his cold nature, I thought it was just another stupid trainer wanting to challenge me," he chuckled. Ash winced upon hearing him described like he was, but ignored it nonetheless.

"Mewtwo, I came here to ask for your help," he began, but Mewtwo raised a paw, cutting his sentence short.

"First, you must tell me what has happened to completely transform your aura. On both occasions we met, your aura was gentle and kind. Now all I sense is hatred and anger. Care to explain?" he demanded. Ash shook his head, fed up with small talk.

"That has nothing to do with you, now will you help me or not?" he snapped, forgetting who he was talking to. He may be one of the only humans in existence to earn Mewtwo's trust, but the Pokémon still had a bad temper; not a moment after Ash spoke those words, he became enveloped in blue light, and lifted high into the air.

"You seem to be forgetting who you are talking to. I gave you a chance to explain yourself, but you've refused. I will find out what happened, even if it means reading your mind and replaying the event from within," he snarled. He wasn't hurting Ash, but he was suspending all movement from the boy. Surprisingly, another blue light enveloped the trainer, and lowered him to the ground. Latias then revealed herself and floated in between Ash and Mewtwo, protective of her trainer.

"I see Latias holds you in high regards, Ash. You still have a certain charm with the females, even with your drastic personality change. Young Latias seems to like you on a deeper level than friendship," he mentally muttered. Latias' face turned an even darker shade of red than usual, as blood rushed to her cheeks. Ash shook his head, not really understanding what Mewtwo was meaning. He was still completely clueless about girls.

"If you really want to know what happened, I'll tell you. But, only if you promise to help me," he demanded, a little calmer this time. Mewtwo thought about this for a moment, before replying with a nod of his head, waiting for Ash to continue. Giving a sigh, he began to explain.

"I met this trainer, and we had a battle. I lost, and after the battle…Pikachu…"he started, shaking from anger at every word he hissed. Mewtwo didn't need Ash to tell the rest of his story. Even a Geodude could tell that he was deeply traumatised about what happened.

"Ash, I understand now. But you cannot let anger become you. You taught me that after your brave performance on new island. Hatred will lead you nowhere and-"he stopped, glancing around the chasm.

"I thought I sensed other presences. Show yourselves now, or there will be trouble," he shouted mentally.

"Trouble? Prepare for trouble!" a red haired woman sung, emerging from the darkness of the cave.

"Make it double!" a blue haired man rhymed, following the woman, a Meowth following him.

"Don't even start!" Ash roared. He'd had enough of these three clowns and their stupid motto.

"Hey, don't you know it's rude to interrupt someone when they're speaking?!" the woman shrieked. Latias giggled silently to herself; she could've sworn she saw smoke rising from her ears. She looked like a cartoon character.

"Um, excuse me, but we seem to be one electric type down," the man mused. Ash looked at Mewtwo, hoping the powerful psychic type could read his thoughts. His suspicions were confirmed as Mewtwo nodded, and turned to the three criminals, his eyes glowing blue. In a second, the same blue light enveloped the three and lifted them into the air.

"I'm giving you guy's one last chance to get out of here, and out of my life forever. If you don't comply, you'll feel the wrath of not only one, but two legendary Pokémon, and I promise you, you won't come out of it alive," he yelled with such ferocity, that even Mewtwo was startled. What happened to the sweet considerate boy he had met so long ago? Latias glanced sadly at her trainer. She hated what he had become; he had turned into a monster. The man and the Meowth quivered in fear; however the woman was looking angrier than a Mightyena that missed its lunch.

"Excuse me, but you are not allowed to tell me what to do, twerp!" she shouted back; big mistake. Within seconds, Mewtwo increased the amount of power in the Psychic attack, causing the trio to shriek in pain. He couldn't stand these three any longer.

"You will leave this place, and never return. And if you report this meeting to your pathetic boss, those words will be the last you ever utter," he demanded psychically, before exerting more force into the psychic and slamming them against the roof of the cave with such ferocity that it tore a hole clean through the side of the mountain, sending them flying, and were reduced to a mere twinkle in the sky in seconds; before they even got a chance to mutter their usual saying.

"Good riddance," the psychic muttered mentally, turning to Ash once more.

"Leave this place Ash, tell no one of our encounter. Whenever you need me, just think about me, and I will come. You have saved my life in the past, and I am eternally grateful; but do not give into the anger. Rage will cloud your judgement and make you do ridiculous things. We've all lost people, but it's important that you remember them," he said, commandingly. Ash hesitated, thinking about all that he had been told. Maybe he was being selfish, clouded with rage and hate towards the trainer responsible for his grievances. He nodded, before turning around, knowing he had one more addition to his team. 4 more places to visit and he was ready. No matter what Mewtwo said, his vengeance will still remain. The trainer will suffer, and know exactly how it feels to be hurt so badly. With this thought circling his mind, he walked back to the tunnel in pursuit of escaping the cave; Latias following slowly.

* * *

"Man, why'd you live up here? It's freezing!" Green complained, shivering as the cold from Mt Silver invaded his body. The other trainer remained silent.

"Still with the silent act? I should've known," he sighed.

"Come on, man, you've got to get over it. It happened 2 years ago! The criminals behind it are behind bars for life!" he said, trying to convince his friend in red to talk. Instead, he merely shook his head. His eyes were full of sadness, full of rage. They used to be full of nothing but compassion and happiness. Why couldn't he let the past go? The trainer held out a note, giving it to Green, before turning back around to face the mountain. Green sighed and read the note.

_Keep an eye on Ash Ketchum. He cannot make the same mistake I did. _

After reading, he shoved the note in his pocket.

"You gonna tell me who Ash Ketchum is?" he asked, but the trainer kept his back to him. Green sighed, and turned to Charizard, who was already lowered, awaiting his mount. He swiftly mounted the dragon like Pokémon, and with a mighty flap of its wings, they were soaring high into the sky. Green didn't know who Ash Ketchum was, or where he was going, but Charizard sure knew; next stop, Cerulean city.

* * *

**Well, my second attempt at a battle and it turned out pretty successful I think; that's for you to decide anyway. So Ash is making a full team of 6 to extract his vengeance? What pokemon will Ash have? leave a review telling me what pokemon you think he should have. And I promise you, this story will have a happy ending. **

**And for any of you who are confused as to why Ash can remember Mewtwo, it's because there was a special episode called "Mewtwo returns", where Ash and Mewtwo encounter each other in the Johto region and in the end, Ash ends up saving his life, regaining the memories Mewtwo erased...I think; it's been a while since I last watched it. **

**Anyway, as always, leave your thoughts in the form of a review. Tell me what you thought of the chapter, the story in general, and what pokemon you'd like Ash to have. I'll do my best to make an awesome story!**

**Until next time, see ya! **


	9. The Evolution

**I am amazed that I managed to upload this on time. I've had so much to do this past week, and as a result, this chapter is a little shorter than previous ones. Still, I've tried my best, and hopefully my best will be enough to satisfy you until next week. **

**A shout out to _Bluedog270_ and _Serenity and Chaos_ for their continual support of the fic. Thanks so much :)**

**Leave a review telling me your thoughts :)**

* * *

"Jeez, are you ready yet?" Gary Oak asked, rather impatiently.

"Hey, you can't rush perfection," Dawn replied from the other side of the door, followed by a giggle. Gary sighed; he'd never understand why it took women so long to get ready.

"Well hurry up. If you want to find Ash, then I suggest you be ready in the next 5 minutes, or I'm leaving without you," he huffed, hoping the coordinator would speed up her attempts at tidying her hair. After a couple of minutes, the door finally opened, revealing the blue haired coordinator, a rather irritated look on her face.

"Don't you know better than to rush a lady?" she pouted. Gary shook his head.

"When I meet a lady, I'll keep that in mind," he chuckled; big mistake.

"Excuse me mister I'm so important but I happen to be very lady-like and you'd better show me some respect got it?!" she yelled. The scientist sweat-dropped; is this her being 'lady-like'? Deciding not to comment and frustrate the girl even more, he grabbed a pokeball from his belt, and released the psychic type from its containment.

"Alakazam, you ready?" he asked. The psychic nodded, raising its spoons in the air as it concentrated its psychic energy into the form of a teleport.

"Take my hand, that way we'll both teleport to the same place," he explained to the rather disgusted coordinator.

"I'm not taking your hand!" she exclaimed, brushing his outstretched hand away. A blue light enveloped them both, as Alakazams psychic skills started to take effect. The room began to swirl around, disappearing with every second. Dawn shrieked and leapt at the scientist, hugging Gary tightly, not wanting to disappear with the room. In a bright flash of lavender light, they were gone, without a trace.

* * *

"Alright Charizard, where are you taking me?" Green asked, frustrated at being kept in the dark for so long. Charizard stretched a claw to the ground just ahead of them, revealing the beautiful water city of Cerulean.

"So, we're headed to Cerulean?" he asked, which was confirmed by a nod of the Pokémon's head. He had no idea what his long time rival was planning, but he certainly wanted this 'Ash' to be kept under close watch. He watched as the ground came rushing up to greet them like an old friend, and with a thud, Charizard landed just outside the city's gates. Green dismounted and took a few paces forward, when a gust of wind caused his attention to become focused once more on the dragon like Pokémon, as it beat its mighty wings and took off, becoming a dot in the horizon.

"Hmph, so I've been brought out here to find a guy I've never even met and I have no idea why. Just brilliant," he muttered to no one in particular. Turning his attention back to the gates, Green began heading into Cerulean. If he was a Pokémon trainer, he might be in the Pokémon centre.

"You owe me big time," he muttered about his long time rival.

* * *

"Your Pokémon is all healed," Nurse Joy cheerfully announced to the raven haired boy.

"I must say, it is very unusual to see a Pokémon trainer with a legendary Pokémon," she commented as the trainer collected the pokeball lying on the counter.

"I'm an unusual trainer," he muttered, before walking off. When he got outside, he released Latias from her pokeball. The Eon dragon gave a dizzy turn in midair, before spotting her trainer and charging into him with a hug.

"Guess you still don't like pokeballs," he said, and the legendary nodded.

"Transform. We need to head out now," he said, and Latias broke the hug. Seconds later, she was encased in a blue light as her transformation took place. After the light dimmed, Latias stood in her Bianca disguise. Somehow, Ash's Indigo league cap materialised atop her brown hair, adding to her cuteness.

"Let's go," he said, and began turning. A voice from somewhere caught his attention, however, rooting him to the spot.

"Hey, you! Do you know someone called Ash Ketchum?" a boy with spiky brown hair similar to Garys asked.

"Depends on who wants to know," he replied calmly. Why was this stranger looking for him?

"Trust me, I've been wondering the same thing," he muttered, but loud enough for the raven haired trainer to hear.

"Look, a friend told me to find you and to look out for you," he explained, keeping the details brief. Ash pondered this thought. He didn't need to be kept safe.

"Can you describe your friend?" he asked. The newcomer thought for a moment, before nodding.

"Well, he's about my age, wears a red jacket and hat, and spends all his time on Mt. Silver," he explained. The description of the boy nearly tore a hole right through Ash's stomach; the trainer in red. He was the reason Ash is in this much pain. Why did he care what happened to him.

"Go away," he muttered, turning away from the newcomer.

"Huh? Why?" he asked. Ash started shaking, letting his anger well up. He snapped his head towards the newcomer, revealing his hellish black eyes, colder than a winter's night.

"Because of your friend, I've lost the best friend I've ever had!" he roared. Latias couldn't take it anymore, and tackled Ash to the ground, sitting on top of his chest, and leaving the newcomer stunned.

"Latias?" he exclaimed, trying to wriggle free, but the girl wouldn't allow it. She looked at him, silently pleading him to return to the young, care-free boy she used to know. Her eyes were full of sadness, and not even Ash's new-found personality could resist them. He relaxed, staring into her pleading eyes, and Latias saw the rage and the anger disappear. The cold edge in his amber orbs had gone.

"Sorry, Latias," he muttered, turning his gaze away. Latias could've kissed him; he was still there. Underneath his cold exterior, the Ash she used to know was still present. She gave him a quick hug, before climbing off of him, letting him stumble to his feet. He turned to the newcomer, remembering his presence.

"Sorry about that. I don't need any help. Go back to your friend and tell him to be ready," he muttered, as he turned to walk away, Latias in tow. Green watched his retreating figure, before turning around and walking back out of Cerulean. His day just kept getting better and better…

* * *

A flash of light shone through the thick blanket of darkness, and as it died down, two humans and a Pokémon stood in place of the brilliant psychic light.

"Owwwww please don't teleport anymore Gary," Dawn complained, dazed from her first experience at being teleported. She shook her head, clearing her dizziness, and immediately spotted the boys black shirt pressed against her face. She quickly tugged away in disgust.

"Eww, Gary how dare you hug me!" she yelled, pulling back. The scientist shook his head, used to her attitude. He looked around, taking stock of his surroundings.

"Uh, Alakazam, I think your teleport was a little off," he said slowly, causing the psychic type to lower his head in shame. Gary petted it on the shoulder gently.

"Heh doesn't matter. We'll get to Cerulean. Thanks for the help, return," he smiled, returning the psychic into its pokeball, before depositing the ball on his belt. Dawn looked around, noticing the darkness they found themselves in.

"So, what now?" she asked. Gary was about to speak, but was cut off as a terrifying roar echoed through the cave, causing the floor to vibrate from the sheer force of the vocals.

"We're not alone," the scientist muttered, scanning the darkness to spot anyone else. The simple fact was: it was too dark to even see past his own hands. Dawn removed her pack, rummaging around inside looking for something. As soon as her hand touched a spherical object, she tugged it out and threw it to the ground, hoping it was the ball that contained the fire type, Infernape. Luck was against her, as the ball snapped open, revealing the small blue land shark, Gible. Dawn face-palmed, before pocketing Gible's pokeball; it wasn't Infernape, but it'd have to do, there wasn't enough time to find Infernape's pokeball.

"Gible, get ready for a battle," Dawn warned the cheery Pokémon, who responded by jumping into the air playfully. Gary grabbed the pokeball containing his strongest fighter, ready just in case. Then, they stood there, in the darkness, anticipating their opponents' next move. Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes felt like hours, and their opponent was still slowly approaching; each stomp of its foot sending shockwaves through the cave. Whatever they were fighting, it was huge. The thing let loose another stomach curling cry, as its voice reverberated off the walls of the cave, adding to the tension already present in the air. Then, with a flash of light, a stream of fire flew towards Gible, enveloping it in a blanket of flames. Gible shrieked in pain, as the attack burnt him. After several seconds, the fire dispelled, leaving a frustrated and slightly singed Pokémon. Fire didn't affect Gible much, so not much damage was done.

To Gary, the fire was a blessing, as it allowed them to finally identify their opponent, but what he saw could've made him faint. The brief flash of light that lit up the cave from the red hot fire revealed a huge, armour plated body, with interconnecting blue lights between the gaps. Down each side of its enormous back, spikes protruded, ready to tear apart anything they touched. All of this paled in comparison to the ferocity in the beast's eyes. They were full of rage and emitted power just by looking at them; the deep red eyes of the Pokémon, Groudon.

"Dawn, we have to move now!" the scientist yelled, but Dawn was too terrified to even listen to anything except from her frantic heart beating. The attack came from nowhere, taking Gible by surprise. The small dragon scanned its surroundings, tuning its senses to nature to locate the coward that attacked from the shadows. A flash of blue caught his eye, and immediately charged to the source, his fist glowing with white energy as he charged up rock smash. Swinging his fist madly, he made contact, earning a shriek of pain from the beast. Grinning proudly, Gible returned back to Dawn, who finally regained her senses.

"Dawn, do you realise what that thing is? We have to get out of here!" he hissed, hoping the coordinator would listen to him. Stubborn as ever, Dawn remained put, determined to fight this invader from the dark.

"Gible, use dig!" she ordered. Gible nodded, before jumping into the air, and putting his front claws to use, dug a hole as he charged into the ground, disappearing from sight…not that he was visible in the first place. Gary shook his head; the coordinator really did act like his long-time rival.

"Fine, but at least let me help if you insist on fighting that thing," he huffed, fed up of the blunettes stubbornness. She nodded, confirming the scientist's words. Seconds ticked away and still nothing happened, until a shockwave powered through the ground, slamming rocks through the ground. Groudon was using Rock tomb; and it worked. Moments later, a shriek of pain was heard from the land shark, as one of the rocks dug him out of the ground, powering him into the air. With a thud, he collapsed on the ground.

"Gible!" Dawn shrieked, worried about the Pokémon's welfare. Gible groggily stood up, after a shaky start. But his torment wasn't over yet. Another shockwave surged through the ground, and a ring of rocks circled around Gible's feet. Before he could respond, the rocks slammed together, trapping the dragon in a tomb of rocks far too thick for any Pokémon to break out.

"Gible! Are you okay?!" Dawn yelled. Her worry was replaced by pure fear, as she saw the Pokémon become encased in its rocky tomb; she had already seen one of Ash's beloved Pokémon die, she sure as hell didn't want to see another one go. Dawn began running towards the tomb of rocks, but was stopped by the scientist. She turned to look at him, questioning him with her sapphire blue eyes. Gary smirked; clearly he knew something the coordinator didn't.

"This is Ashy boy's Gible. He's not going down without a fight," he chuckled. Dawn turned back to the tomb of rocks, pleading to Arceus that Gary was right. Seconds ticked away, and still nothing. Just when Dawn was about to give up hope, a light filtered through the gaps in the rocks, invading the army of darkness, casting its glow high into the cave; after a few seconds, the light died down, and the rocks exploded, sending debris flying around, covering the scene in dust. They shielded their eyes from the initial explosion, and as the dust died down, Dawn felt like cheering. Instead, she stood, awestruck, as the figure of a tall, shark-like Pokémon loomed from in the cloud of dust. Gible was nowhere to be seen, being replaced by this newcomer. Gary chuckled to himself.

"Told you," he said simply. Dawn was still too awestruck to reply, or even close her gaping mouth.

"I-impossible!" she uttered, not believing her eyes, yet wanting to believe them at the same time; she couldn't accept what her eyes were seeing.

"Looks like little Gible has evolved. Dawn, meet Gabite," he muttered.

* * *

The video phone rang the old laboratory, sat atop a windy hill in Pallet town.

"All right all right I'm coming!" the old professor exclaimed. This was the seventh time his work was interrupted today. At least this was just a phone call, and not a rookie trainer who got lost on the way to Viridian city. Sighing, he sat down at the green video phone, and pressed the 'Accept' button, and the screen whizzed into life. What the professor saw in the screen shocked him; the Pallet town trainer stared back at the old professor, with a cheeky grin adjourning his face.

"Well well, if it isn't my favourite professor," Green chuckled. Professor Oak stared, open mouthed at the screen in disbelief. It had been years since his first grandson had contacted him.

"G-green? Is it really you?" he asked, rubbing his eyes in hopes the figure on the screen wouldn't disappear. Green replied with a chuckle.

"It has been a long time grandpa," he grinned. The old professor responded with a shaky nod of his head. Ever since Green became the Viridian gym, he had lost all communication with his first grandson.

"Well, this is a very nice surprise, but…what do you want?" he asked. He may be old, but he still knew his grandson like the back of his hand; Green wouldn't contact him unless he wanted something. This was confirmed by a nod of the gym leaders head.

"Still got the touch eh, gramps?" he chuckled.

"Well, since you asked, I want you to pull up all of the data for a trainer named Ash Ketchum," he said, his cheeky grin disappearing and being replaced by a serious look. The professor blinked, before responding.

"You know Ash?" he asked. Green looked dumbfounded; how did his grandpa know this boy?

"Yeah, I had the pleasure of meeting him earlier, and some girl called Latias. Cheesy name right?" Green chuckled. It was true that people were often named after Pokémon, but never had he heard a girl being named after a legendary. The professor's ears perked up at the mention of the legendary Eon dragon.

"I knew it! I knew he caught a Latias!" he exclaimed. Green sweat-dropped; same old grandpa. The professor then realised his outburst, and turned back to the slightly confused Green.

"It's a long story, but I do know Ash. He's one of my promising students from right here in Pallet town. He made it to the top four in the Sinnoh league," the professor said proudly.

"Well, in that case, send all of his details to my Pokedex. I want to know what Pokémon he has, what he's caught, what he's done, everything," he explained, before hanging up the phone. The professor didn't even have a chance to ask why. Trusting his eldest grandson, he pulled up Ash's Pokedex data, before copying all of the files onto Green's Pokedex. That boy sure had some explaining to do.

* * *

High atop Mt. Silver, the lone trainer threw a pokeball, releasing the purple psychic type from it's containment. Espeon looked at its trainer, before nodding, and within seconds, the mountain was gone; replaced by the beautiful water city of Cerulean. He looked around him, before spotting the boy talking to the strange girl from before.

They were sat on a bench inside the park. He couldn't quite make out what they were talking about, but he did hear one word: the word he feared that the boy would one day say. It couldn't be a coincidence that they both had a run in with a trainer who shared a strong bond with Pokémon. Most humans in this world used Pokémon for their own self-gain, without a care as to what happened to them. He walked closer to the boy, analysing his face. He seemed more relaxed than the last time he saw him, but he couldn't make out why. He picked up snippets of their conversation: Battle, revenge, Pokémon, powerful, red. Each word made the boy grow increasingly concerned, but the word that shocked him the most, and sent a chill deep down his spine was the word said first of all…

…Mewtwo.

* * *

**Again, I'm sorry for the shortness of this chapter. Hopefully next weeks will be longer.**

**Next week sees the conclusion to the fight between Groudon and Gible, wait, Gabite. **

**What pokemon will Ash assemble for his ultimate team, aside from Latias and Mewtwo?**

**Will Dawn and Gary survive their fight, and find Ash before he departs again?**

**Find out next week. In the meantime...Leave a review :D**

**Until next time :)**


	10. The Rival

**And here it is; to celebrate 10 weeks of action, drama and suspense, I bring you an extra awesome, extra long chapter of Clash with a titan. Personally, I think this is the best chapter to date. Tell me what you think, I worked hard on this, and hopefully it will show. Here's to another 10 weeks of updates :D**

* * *

"G-Gabite?" Dawn stuttered to the smirking scientist. Gary chuckled at her, giving a glance at the dragon in question.

"Remember, this is Ashy boy's Gabite, now do us a favour and weaken this thing so we can get out of here," he said, proud of his long time rival; even though he wasn't here, he still never ceased to amaze the scientist. Dawn closed her jaw and nodded, turning back to the land shark standing proudly, glaring at the monster hiding in the shadows.

"Alright Gabite, show-time," she yelled, pointing her finger at the concealed beast. Gabite gave a roar of approval and charged forward, his fin-like arms glowing a bright green as he charged up one of the new moves in his arsenal; Dragon claw. With a mighty roar, he thrust his claws forward, sending a charge of draconic energy surging through his opponent. The thing gave a mighty roar of pain, before slamming his giant foot down, sending shockwaves through the whole cave as the earthquake attack charged towards Gabite.

Just when the attack was about to send the dragon flying, Gabite leaped high into the air, charging a pulsating green orb of energy in between its rows of dagger-like teeth. It leaned its head back and thrust forward with all its might, and the dragon pulse slammed into its target, exploding on impact. Groudon shrieked in pain, before throwing its head back and letting loose a powerful torrent of flames, lighting up the cave in the process.

Dawn's jaw dropped when she caught sight of what she was fighting; she thought the formation of the continents was just an old poketale; her eyes were proving her wrong, displaying the horrifying image of Groudon in her mind. She turned to Gary, wanting an explanation. Instead, Gary just nodded. She shook her head, and turned back to the attack that was fast approaching Gabite, but the land shark was nowhere to be seen; it was gone. The attack made contact with the ceiling, dispelling its flames into mere embers that showered across the battlefield. Still no sign of Gabite; Dawn glanced around the dark surroundings, looking for any tiny glimpse of the land shark.

After minutes had passed, everyone stood in silence, even Groudon, as they waited for the dragon type to reveal itself. Then it happened, too quickly for anyone to see; the earth shook and the dragon type leapt out in front of the colossal Pokémon and slammed a claw of draconic energy into its cheek. Without a moment's hesitation, Gabite leapt upon Groudons head, slamming his other claw into the beast, earning another howl of pain to echo through the cave. Still Gabites onslaught didn't end, as it leapt high above its target, glowing orange from the centre of its body as it charged up the ultimate dragon type move. With a mighty thrust, Gabite expelled the ball of energy downwards into Groudon. Just before the orb was about to make contact, it broke into several orbs of draconic power, showering over the beast and exploding with every touch against the beasts armour-like body; sending dust and debris flying around.

Dawn and Gary shielded their eyes from the incoming blast, fearful of any incoming projectiles. Fortunately, luck was on their side, and they avoided the brunt of the explosion. They stood there, waiting for the dust to clear. Then it was all over; as the dust settled, they could make out the monstrous shape of Groudon lying defeated on the floor, Gabite stood proudly on its back.

"Incredible!" Dawn exclaimed, jumping for joy as the dragon returned to her side, a cheery smile adjourning its face. Gary shook his head; something didn't seem right.

"That wasn't a Groudon," he muttered, just loud enough for the coordinator to hear. She stopped her celebration, turning to the scientist for questioning.

"What do you mean? Of course it was Groudon," she said simplistically. Gary hesitated, looking for the best way to respond.

"Think about it, Groudon has the strength to raise continents from the ocean, yet it was so easily defeated by a Gabite? It is true that Gible's evolutionary line rivals that of legendaries, but taking down a Groudon so easily is an impossible feat, even for Ashy boy's Pokémon," he explained. Dawn listened carefully, until the sad truth finally hit her. This Groudon was a fake. Now that she thought about it, she heard rumours that Groudon lived underneath the earth's crust in magma chambers; what would one be doing in Cerulean cave? She nodded sadly, confirming the scientist's words.

"Let's get out of here, we can figure this out later. Right now, we need to find Ash," he said, plucking a pokeball from his belt and releasing the psychic type. Alakazam flexed its arms as it was released next to its trainer.

"Alakazam, think you could take another shot at teleporting us to Cerulean?" Gary asked. The psychic type nodded and its eyes began glowing blue, as it channelled its psychic energy into the teleport attack. Gary raised his hand, offering it to the coordinator. Reluctantly, she accepted it, and moments later, they were gone, leaving a path of destruction in their wake from their previous battle with the illusion.

Groudon's body began twitching, and static began crackling around it. It began to fade away from existence, starting from its giant feet. More and more of Groudon started disappearing, seemingly into thin air, until after a few minutes, it was gone, leaving nothing behind.

* * *

Ash stepped out of the brightly lit Pokémon centre; the disguised Latias following. The afternoon sun was setting slowly, finishing its arc in the vast sky as the last of its rays shone over the Kanto region. Ash would've preferred setting off a little later, but after the recent news that had caught his attention on the TV; he was running out of time. The little Pokémon he knew so long ago had already evolved, and was waiting for a powerful trainer to take it under their pokeball. Luckily, everyone was indoors, eating their dinners in front of the television. He was more or less alone, the perfect time to set off without anyone knowing.

Ash wasn't an idiot; he knew that Misty would've contacted the old professor after their battle. He didn't want to be found, so he had to keep moving. He took a step, until a bright light flashed just in front of him. Shielding his eyes, Ash staggered backwards, as the fabric of space was ripped open, and three new arrivals entered Cerulean city. When the light finally died down, Ash was greeted by some very familiar voices bickering in his ear.

"What did I say about not touching me?!" a girl squealed. A sigh came from the boy, as he shook his head.

"We're here, aren't we?" he replied; an underlining tone of smugness present in his voice.

"Yeah but-"the girl froze, as she turned to face Ash, who was still shielding his eyes.

"Ash?" she asked, walking closer to him. At the sound of his name, Ash removed his arm from his eyes, and was met by the familiar blue haired coordinator.

"Dawn?" he asked, but before he could get an answer, the girl charged him, hugging him with every ounce of her strength.

"Oh Ash, it is you! What do you think you were doing? We've been worried sick!" she scolded, now removing her tight grasp of the boy, leaving him rather dazed.

"What are you doing here? I told you not to find me!" he snapped, making the coordinator flinch. Even Gary raised an eyebrow at his former rival. Still, this didn't dissuade Dawn.

"Like I was going to leave you without any Pokémon," she replied, surprisingly calmly despite Ash's previous snap. The trainer thought for a second, turning to Latias by his side. She glanced at him, her empathy ability picking up his senses, feeling what he was feeling. He was asking her something, but she wasn't sure what. To save any trouble, she nodded to the trainer, who then turned back to the coordinator.

"Where are they?" he asked. Dawn swung her pack off, rummaging around for a second, before producing 5 red and white balls from within. Ash looked at them, scanning the contents of each of the balls, before reaching out and grabbing one. He pocketed the ball, before turning back to the confused Blunette.

"Take the rest to professor Oak," he muttered, before turning to walk away, Latias sadly following him. Dawn stared at his slowly retreating figure, becoming a silhouette from the last rays of the tired sun.

"And where do you think you're going?" Gary asked. Ash continued walking slowly, however Latias nudged him, telling him to answer. Ash stopped, giving a sigh in the process.

"It's none of your business, now leave me alone," he muttered, continuing his path out of the city.

"Ash, you can't seriously expect us to let you out into the world with just a Latias. She is a legendary, but she can't protect you from the world," Gary yelled. After the hard time trying to find him, he wasn't prepared to just let him walk away. Something seemed to do the trick, since Ash stopped walking, throwing his head up into the cool evening sky. So the professor had seen Latias' data after all. He should've known the Vermillion city nurse Joy would slack off and not get it done fast enough. He turned back towards his friends, giving them a cold glare from the hate-filled orbs adjourning his face.

"Why are you spying on me? Dawn, I told you not to look for me, and you still don't listen!" he yelled. Dawn's bottom lip began trembling, and quickly turned away from him; she didn't want him to see her cry, even if he was the one causing her to do so. Gary stepped forward, an angry vein bulging in his neck.

"Ash, we're your friends! We're only trying to help you!" he retorted. Ash started shaking with anger; after all he's been through, he didn't need any help as far as he was concerned.

"I don't need your help! Go home, leave me alone!" he roared, turning to walk away before Gary could respond. Latias, however, stood in front of him, blocking his path. She had the same upset look in her eyes as before; the same penetrating look that pleaded the young trainer to show some compassion. Her eyes pierced his heart, making his stomach lurch. He looked down to the floor, to try and escape the amber orbs that were causing him so much pain; he couldn't bear to see her look so upset. He sighed, before resorting to the last thing he wanted to do: he'd have to get help from elsewhere.

'_Are you there?'_ he asked his mind, hoping the response would come. Relief washed over him, as the strong voice echoed through his mind.

'_What do you require?_' the voice asked. Ash mentally sighed with relief, now knowing the psychic could indeed hear his thoughts.

'_Teleport Dawn and Gary to Pallet town,'_ he requested. The psychic type grunted in acknowledgement, and seconds later, a bright light enveloped his two friends. Latias silently gasped at the sight. Dawn looked through her tears to see the light enveloping her, and instinctively grabbed hold of the scientists arm. Gary, however, looked calm. The light became more intense, as more psychic energy flowed through the fabric of space; ready to make a rift. Then suddenly, the light vanished, and Gary and Dawn stood there, in the safe grasps of a green shield; A safeguard.

'_Mewtwo, what is going on?'_ he mentally yelled. His response was a throbbing pain through his _head, as the psychic type grew annoyed at the boy for being so discourteous._

'_His Alakazam is protecting them. Even though my psychic powers exceed that of any living creature, I cannot use them effectively at this distance. If you want me to teleport them, you will have to get rid of Alakazam,'_ he responded. Ash glared at the psychic type, which was now stood in front of its trainer protectively; spoons at the ready.

"Sorry Ashy-boy, but the only way you'll get rid of us is by beating me in a battle," Gary smirked. Ash growled. Looks like he had to rely on Latias and Gible to take down all six of Gary's powerful Pokémon…

…Could this day get any worse?

* * *

"You gonna tell me what this is all about?" Green snapped at his rival; stood staring across the vast mountain range for yet another day. Still, no reply came from the silent boy. Green sighed; he had hoped that after all this time, his rival would have moved on. Death can definitely change a person…

"He said to be ready," he muttered at the boy. His words sparked interest in him, and for the first time that day, he tore his eyes away from the mountain range ahead of him to look at his old rival. Still, he remained silent, thoughts circling around his head. He had not long ago heard the boy muttering something about a battle, and now Green tells him this? He turned to his fateful Charizard just behind Green, and after a few seconds, the fire-type nodded and beat its powerful wings, ready to take off. Sending snow flying, he rose into the air, snatching Green into his small arms before flying away from the mountain. Green sighed once more; he was really getting fed up of flying.

* * *

"Don't do this Gary," Ash warned his former rival. Gary chuckled, shaking his head at the boy.

"Of course I'm going to do this. I want to help you, and if beating you is the only way, then so be it," he smirked. Alakazam roared with approval, ready to fight for his master's honour. Ash sighed at his rival; all this time and he still hasn't changed.

_'Mewtwo, can you cloak the area to make us invisible? I don't want anyone to see Latias,'_ he thought. The psychic type thought about his request, before granting it. The area around the Pokémon centre became enveloped in a psychic blue light, as Mewtwo enchanted the area. From anyone else's point of view, it would appear as if there was nobody there. Gary glanced wearily around, scanning the light that seemed to form a barrier around their perimeter. There's no way Latias could do this. Ash had to be getting help from somewhere else, but where?

"The field is set Gary, make your move," Ash growled at him. Gary shook his head; where was the Ash he used to know? He turned to Alakazam, who was stood by his side.

"You ready to win this?" he smirked. Alakazam nodded in agreement, and stepped forward onto the battlefield. Ash turned to Latias, nodding at the disguised eon dragon. She walked onto the battlefield, before becoming enveloped in blue light similar to that of the psychic barrier they were concealed in. When the light died down, the red and white legendary floated in front of Ash, giggling at Gary and Dawn who both shared a look of utter shock on their faces. Gary was the first to recover; even if he did have a legendary, Latias couldn't take down all of his team by herself. Gary smirked, wanting to take the advantage.

"Alakazam, use psychic!" he ordered, pointing to Latias. His eyes began glowing blue, as he mentally searched for the eon dragon with his psychic powers.

"Latias use Mist ball at your feet!" he smirked, once again thinking outside the box. Latias extended her claws, summoning up a ball of psychic mist in between them. Before Alakazam could get a mental grip on her, she released the attack, shrouding herself behind a thick veil of impenetrable psychic mists. Gary had never even heard of that move before, so he couldn't think of a counter for it. The mist was clearly endowed with psychic powers much too strong for Alakazam to break through. Reluctantly, Gary returned his psychic type to his ball, before coming up with a plan to dispel the mist. He grabbed the oldest ball on his belt, and tossed it to the ground, revealing the giant turtle Pokémon, Blastoise.

"Blaaaaaaaaaaast!" it roared as it entered the battle.

"Blastoise, use rapid spin to blow away the mist!" Gary ordered. Blastoise retracted all of its limbs into the huge shell covering its back, as it began spinning like a top; its path firmly set on the psychic mists. As it approached, its spin slowed down, and when it finally came into contact with the unknown attack, Blastoise popped out of its shell, screaming in pain as the psychic mist sapped away its health.

"Blastoise!" Gary shouted desperately, as he heard its Pokémon's cry for help. Ash saw his opportunity and took it.

"Latias use Dragon pulse!" he yelled; his voice penetrating through the mist and reaching the dragons ears. Following her trainers request, Latias began summoning a green orb of draconic energy between her claws. Exerting herself, she thrust the orb of crackling energy towards Blastoise, who was still writhing in pain from the mist. The Dragon pulse connected with Blastoise's head, sending it flying from the sheer force of the attack. It flew out of the mist, landing with a thud on the hard, unforgiving ground. The mist faded away, revealing the legendary. Blastoise rose slowly from the ground, a blue aura enveloping it as its special ability activated. Gary smirked.

"Did you really think you could beat Blastoise with that?" he said smugly. Blastoise roared as he finally reached his knees; the blue aura around him intensifying.

"Blastoise use Hydro pump!" Gary shouted, making full use of the situation. Blastoise roared once more, and aimed its cannons at Latias. Seconds later, 2 powerful torrents of water fired from each cannon, spiralling around each other, increasing each others' power as it powered towards the legendary dragon.

"Latias use Dragon claw to cut through," Ash replied, seemingly bored. Latias nodded hesitantly; her trainer really did come up with unique ways to win a battle. Nonetheless, her claws began glowing as a draconic energy engulfed them. She waited for the attack to near, and just when she was about to be hit, she thrust one claw forward, striking the water, reducing it to mere splashes. She repeated with the other claw, in a criss-cross motion, until Blastoise let up the attack, tired and panting. Even with his ability activated, Blastoise still couldn't overpower Latias. Gary thought the same thought, thinking of any possible strategy to take down Latias. Then it hit him.

"Blastoise, return," he called, as he shot a red beam of light towards the turtle Pokémon, sucking it into its pokeball.

"Go Nidoqueen!" he shouted, throwing the ball containing the blue Pokémon. Nidoqueen roared, as she arrived on the field, staring down her opponent. Was she really going to fight a legendary? She didn't have time to dwell on this thought, however, as her master ordered her to attack.

"Nidoqueen ice punch!" he yelled. Complying, Nidoqueen focused energy into her fists, as ice began forming on them. She charged forward, her sights set on Latias.

"Latias use Dragon pulse," Ash ordered. Latias quickly gathered the energy necessary, and fired it at Nidoqueen.

"Use your tail to jump over!" Gary yelled, catching Ash off guard. Nidoqueen kept running towards the incoming ball of draconic energy, and at the last possible second, slammed her tail into the ground, propelling her over the orb. She continued her path towards the stunned legendary, and slammed one fist of icy energy into her cheek, earning a cry of pain from the dragon. But her attack didn't stop there, as she slammed the other fist into her wing, sending the dragon flying to the ground in pain. With a mighty crash, Latias slammed into the ground, as Nidoqueen proudly returned to her trainer's side of the field.

"Had enough, Ashy-boy?" he teased. Ash shook with anger; how dare he hurt Latias! Latias slowly began to levitate, her body badly injured from enduring 2 super effective hits from a powerful Pokémon. She glared at Nidoqueen, intimidating the Pokémon more than a Gyarados would. Ash didn't care about the battle; all he wanted to do was get out of here, and away from his friends. But he couldn't without knocking out Alakazam first. Hoping against all odds, he turned to Latias.

"Return," he ordered. Latias reluctantly flew behind her trainer, never averting her deathly glare away from Nidoqueen, who was wriggling uncomfortably.

"Go Gible!" he yelled, throwing his ball onto the field. When the ball snapped open, Ash was met with a pleasant surprise. Standing there wasn't the little land shark he raised. Instead, a cheerful looking, yet intimidating Gabite stood tall, happy to be reunited with its trainer. Ash smirked; with Gabite now on the team, he would have to do a lot less training than initially thought.

"Nidoqueen return," Gary ordered, returning the Pokémon into its ball. He stared at Gabite; not long ago he saw the dragon defeat a so called "Groudon"; and with Blastoise heavily injured, that left him with one choice to beat the dragon.

"Alakazam, go!" he yelled, releasing the psychic type onto the field. Ash smirked, his plan a success. Now all he had to do was defeat Alakazam. He pulled out his Pokedex, scanning Gabite with it. He read out his known moves, and was met with a pleasant surprise. He always wanted to try out a specific combo move, but he knew Latias wasn't powerful enough to handle it. Gabite just might be able to pull it off.

"Gabite use Dragon pulse!" he yelled. The dragon opened its jaw and fired a ball of green draconic energy towards Alakazam.

"Catch it," Gary calmly ordered. As expected, Alakazam caught the orb of energy in its psychic grasp. However, just as he was about to fire it back at its opponent, Gabite had seemingly vanished. Alakazam dispelled the ball into the air, making it explode when it was out of reach of the battle field. Gary examined the still field, looking for any signs of his opponent. What he did see made his heart race. On Ash's side of the field, a deep hole had been dug.

"Alakazam, watch out! Gabite's used dig!" he yelled. The psychic type tensed itself, straining its mind to try and locate the dragon. Truth be told, Alakazam's psychic powers couldn't penetrate the thick earth below, meaning Gabite was hidden, for now.

"Gabite use Draco meteor!" Ash yelled. Gary stared incredulously at him; was he seriously ordering his Pokémon to use the ultimate dragon type attack whilst underground?!

"Alakazam, get away!" he desperately called, but it was too late. Deep beneath the ground, Gabite fired the deadly attack upwards, slamming the attack through the hollow earth, exploding when it reached the surface. The entire battlefield collapsed, thanks to Gabites digging making the earth hollow. Rocks went flying, as the earth parted. Ash had combined 2 moves to make a fissure attack! Alakazam desperately tried running away, but lost his footing and tumbled towards the churning earth below. After several minutes, the attack ceased, leaving a huge crater in replacement of the battlefield. At the bottom of the crater, half buried under rock, lay Alakazam. Gary was shocked, he never thought his rival would do something like this. Gabite climbed out from underneath a pile of rocks at the bottom of the crater, returning to Ash. Gabite survived the brunt of the attack by hiding deeper in the earth, but due to the sheer force behind the attack, he had sustained some substantial damage.

"Good work, now return," Ash muttered, returning Gabite to his pokeball. Latias stood there shocked at her trainers actions; he had become a monster, and the Ash that was buried deep beneath his harsh exterior was slowly slipping away. Soon, there would be nothing of him left.

Dawn approached Gary, who was staring at his Pokémon incredulously. He finally returned the Pokémon, before pocketing the ball. He had to find a Pokémon centre.

_'Mewtwo, teleport them to Pallet town, now'_ Ash mentally ordered. Mewtwo cast aside the psychic barrier concealing them, just as Latias transformed at her master's request, becoming disguised once more. Dawn and Gary began glowing blue, as Mewtwo began to teleport them.

"Ash, what's happened to you?" Gary sadly questioned from within the psychic energy. After a few more seconds, the light died down, as Mewtwo's teleport finished. Dawn and Gary were gone, leaving Ash and the disguised Latias on their own. Miraculously, when the psychic barrier that was concealing them dropped, the battlefield had been repaired, leaving no trace of a battle. Ash began walking back to the Pokémon centre. He'd have to get his Pokémon healed up, delaying his revenge further. Tomorrow, his quest to gather the ultimate team would continue.

* * *

High atop Mt. Silver, the lone trainer returned his fateful Espeon. The battle he had just observed scared him. The boy he was desperately trying to save from himself had already turned; the monster had already broken out. Combining all that he knew, he guessed that the boy wanted revenge, and to do that, he was building a team of powerful Pokémon to punish him. But where does Mewtwo fit into all of this? Surely the psychic type wouldn't harm any of his Pokémon if Ash tried using him in a battle.

A roar from high in the sky shattered his thoughts, as his loyal Charizard came swooping through the sky, landing gracefully behind him. He noticed the absence of Green, and assumed that Charizard had completed his task. Judging from what professor Oak downloaded to Green's Pokedex, Ash was going to be moving very soon, and Green had to get there first.

"Hey, you! Are you the so called "Champion master" of the Kanto region?" a gruff voice emanated from behind him. Charizard turned around, facing the muscular trainer, his fiery eyes burning through the man's soul. The trainer in red gave a silent sigh; he was really regretting achieving his status. He hated injuring innocent Pokémon, but it had to be done. He turned around to face his latest challenger.

"Grr?" Charizard grunted. Its trainer nodded, and Charizards face became endowed with a grin as wide as the mountain range behind. The dragon-like Pokémon cracked its knuckles; he was going to enjoy this. He glanced at the challenger, who looked as if he was regretting ever revealing his presence. This didn't dissuade him though, as he threw a ball to the ground, releasing a large, mostly white Pokémon, with a green underside. Long, thick hair covered the entirety of its body.

"Abomasnow!" it roared, throwing its arms into the air. Charizard chuckled; an Ice type? _This is going to be too easy._

* * *

**Well? I'm pretty proud of this chapter, hopefully you'll enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. **

**So Gary has seen Ash's change first hand? How is he going to cope with the new Ash?**

**What's Dawn going to do now?**

**What pokemon is Ash assembling?**

**What are Red and Green planning?**

**Find out next week, with the next instalment of Clash with a titan **

**Cya next time :D**


	11. Authors notes: Good news!

**Hey guys and gals, I just wanted to take the time to tell you all that "Clash with a titan" shall resume very shortly. I've finally caught up on all of my coursework, and I have no more exams until January, so that gives me the time to write some more :) **

**There probably won't be any updates this week, considering I usually update on a Friday, but next week there may be a new chapter for Clash with a titan, and I promise I'll do my best to write one of the best stories you've ever read! (I hope so, considering I've just gotten an A* in my English literature exam) **

**Additionally, I'd like to take the time to announce that I'm going to be writing a Christmas fic! *Happy dance* **

**I haven't thought of a title for it yet, but it's in the writing process now, so you should expect to see that sometime early December. Give me an early christmas present, and write a review xD**

**And finally, I wanted to give a shout-out to some members of the community that have really helped me out. Serenity Absolute (you may know her as Serenity and Chaos), Bluedog270, and Kimmy-1016. Thank you all so much for your continued support of this fic, and I hope you continue supporting me until the end :) **

**Anyway, cheesy speech over, I'm glad to be back in the writing world :D**


	12. The Valley

**Guess what? It's finally here! I finally managed to get caught up on all the work I missed, so I could bring you chapter 11. What else? It's the longest chapter to date! *Happy dance* Thanks to everyone who's supported me throughout the fic, and to EliteLuther, thanks for your reviews. And regarding Ash's hat, I didn't really make that very clear; the hat he has now (or that Latias has) is his indigo league hat. The hat he gave Dawn is his Sinnoh league hat. Thanks to Bluedog270, Remnants of Serenity (So many name changes xD) and Kimmy-1016  for the continued support you've given. Thanks so much. I'll be writing a lot of Authors notes at the bottom of the fic, so be sure to read them, they have important information in them. Read and enjoy. If you feel like giving me an early Christmas present...REVIEW! xD**

* * *

'Violet city?' the voice inquired in his head. The trainer nodded, then mentally face-palmed; he was talking telepathically to the Pokémon, he couldn't actually be seen.

'That's right. There's an old friend that lived near there,' he replied. The psychic type thought about this for a moment, before replying.

'I will teleport you, but be warned, I have never attempted to teleport anyone else at those great distances. My superior psychic powers should be enough to grant you a successful teleport, but I can't guarantee it,' the psychic type warned. Ash thought for a moment, he really had no other way of getting there in a short amount of time, and according to the news, the Pokémon poachers have been operating near Mt. Silver. He needed to assemble the rest of his team to take down the poachers in time; therefore he needed to gather his team quickly.

'Ok, I'm ready,' he thought. The psychic type enhanced his telepathic abilities, until a similar coloured light to the one that shone when he teleported Gary and Dawn appeared. Ash held out his hand towards the human-guised Latias, who graciously accepted it. The light grew more and more intense, and before long, the two became enveloped by the ominous blue glow. Within a few seconds, Mewtwo had successfully teleported them, and luckily for Ash, he teleported them closer to his desired location than he expected.

The trainer shook off the dizziness he felt after the teleport finished, and glanced around him. Latias was still holding his hand, refusing to let go, scared that she'd become lost. She opened her eyes, stared at Ash, and released his hand with a faint blush lining her face. Ash scanned the area around him; he was in a rocky valley. Just behind him, he could see the city of Violet, not a great distance away, but still a good half an hour's walk. Had Mewtwo read his mind and found out the purpose of his visit?

Dismissing the thought, Ash began walking into the rocky valley that lay ahead; his destination was waiting for him at the top of the rocky slopes.

* * *

"What's happened to Ashy-boy?" Gary sadly muttered to himself as he and Dawn arrived on a grassy hill overlooking a peaceful little town. Gary recognised it immediately, and started walking over to the windmill on the far side of the small, nature friendly town. Dawn followed the scientist, wondering their next plan of action.

"I'm not giving up," Dawn announced, confidence brimming in her voice. Gary turned to stare at her, thinking his response through.

"It's hopeless Dawn. You saw how he was back there; he really didn't want to see us. What good will it do for us to go on another wild goose chase for him to just teleport us away?" the scientist responded. Dawn shook her head.

"We can't give up! Ash would never give up on us!" she exclaimed, turning to the scientist with pleading eyes. Gary sighed; it was true.

"Fine. But if we're going to go looking for him again, we're going to need a better incentive to bring him home and snap him out of this…mood he's in," he explained. Dawn nodded, continuing their walk towards the quaint little town. Their first order of business was to get Gary's Pokémon all healed. After the exhausting, and extremely surprising fight against Ash, they deserved a nice long rest.

* * *

Latias gave a silent sigh, looking at her trainer. He looked like the same old Ash Ketchum, with a change of clothes. But whenever she looked into his eyes, they were cold and harsh, not anything like the Ash she used to know. She tugged his sleeve, gaining his attention, before staring at him with pleading eyes. She wanted to know if her friend was still somewhere there, and hadn't been fully consumed by the monster that was taking over. She was desperate to hear him laugh, or play, or just be the normal, kind, loving Ash she knew and loved.

Ash picked up on her thoughts miraculously; maybe it was Latias' ability of telepathy? He shook the thought away, thinking of a response. He continued to gaze into her sorrowful eyes, seeing them tear up broke his heart. He couldn't bear to look, so he did the only thing he could; he looked away. He was ashamed of himself, ashamed that he disowned his friends so easily, ashamed of how he treated Misty's Gyarados, ashamed of hurting Alakazam. But no matter how much shame the boy felt, he was still cloaked in anger. If the world was so cruel as to take Pikachu away, why shouldn't the rest of the world suffer just as much as he did?

He looked on, ignoring Latias, but giving her a small pat on the back, trying to comfort the dragoness, but to no avail. Latias turned to look at the floor; a few solitary tears escaped her eyes, and crashed onto the rocky road below. She turned her head away from her trainer, not wanting him to see her like this.

Ash kept pushing on, further and further up the rocky hills, until he was greeted with a sight that was like bliss to his eyes. The towering figure of two stone dragon-like Pokémon loomed above the trainer, atop each one was a flame that burned brighter than the evening sun slowly setting over the hills.

Ash approached the two statues, seeing a huge wooden gate lying between them, guarding the entrance to the stronghold. Latias glanced up, finally tearing her eyes away from her feet, and saw the magnificent sight ahead.

As the two approached closer, the gate swung open with a loud creak, revealing a young woman next to a Charizard. She smiled when she saw who the visitor was. Yet something seemed different about him, he seemed colder than usual. And where was his Pikachu?

"Hello Ash," she greeted as the boy approached. She took notice of the newcomer, who smiled shyly at her. For some reason, her eyes were red and blotchy.

"Hey Liza," Ash returned the greeting.

"What brings you here?" she asked. Ash looked straight into her eyes, unnerving her slightly as a chill ran down her spine.

"I'm here for Charizard, why else?" he said simply. Liza nodded, before beckoning Ash to follow. When they walked through the gates, a couple of smaller Charizards closed them behind the humans.

"So, has he gotten stronger at all?" he asked. Liza turned and nodded, beaming a smile.

"He sure has. He's been training so hard that in the short time you've left him with me, he's already reached number two of the whole valley!" she said, impressed. Charla grunted proudly at her mates achievements. Ash nodded, but remained in silence.

"Who's your friend Ash?" Liza asked, stirring up conversation once more. Ash turned to Latias, still disguised.

"This is…Tia," he introduced. Latias gave a shy wave once more to Liza. Liza nodded, smiling kindly back at the girl.

"You actually came at a good time, Ash. Your Charizard is about to take on the leader of the valley. You're welcome to watch," she smiled happily that her training with Charizard proved successful. Ash nodded once more, remaining in silence. He looked overhead, where several Charizard were flying about. Some were having aerial battles, whilst others seemed to be just talking, enjoying the evening sun. The valley was truly a magnificent sight.

"Well, well, well. It's about time you showed up," a familiar voice said. Ash glanced around, looking for the source. A boy walked out from behind a rock, with a very large Charizard following him. The sight of the boy froze Ash to the spot; the very same boy as before. Now that he thought about it, he looked very familiar.

"And who might you be?" Liza asked, curious towards the newcomer. The boy nodded to Liza.

"I'm Green. Nice to meet you," he greeted, before turning back to Ash.

"You're not getting rid of me so easily…especially since he won't let me go home until I stop you…" Green said, muttering the last part so nobody heard him. Ash shook with anger, but before he could say anything, something tackled him down to the floor. He looked up, to see Latias staring at him, her eyes watery, about to burst into tears. She pleaded desperately into his eyes, and this time, Ash had nowhere else to look. He sighed, staring into her heart-breaking gaze.

"I'm sorry," he muttered. Latias hugged him, wrapping her arms around his neck, not wanting to let go of her friend; each day, more and more of him was slipping away. After a minute or so of holding him, Latias let go, standing up to allow Ash to do the same. He turned to Green once he was on his feet.

"Leave me alone. I don't want, or need help," he muttered, turning to look away. Green chuckled to himself, causing Ash to glance in his direction once more.

"I'm not leaving you alone, unless you can beat me in a battle. How does one-on-one sound?" He asked, smirking confidently at the boy; there was no way he could lose to Ash. Ash thought for a moment, before nodding.

"But, you have to use Charizard," Green smirked. Ash looked stunned; how did this guy know about Charizard?

"I have connections in very high places. I know all about every Pokémon you've ever caught, and where you caught them. I know all of the achievements you've earned, such as placing 4th in the Sinnoh league. Impressive, but you still can't beat me!" he chuckled darkly. He knew his friend wouldn't let him return to the gym unless he stopped this Ash guy, and what better way than a battle?

"Okay, fine. But if I win, you have to leave me alone once and for all," he said boldly. Green nodded, falsely agreeing to the terms; even if he did lose, he wouldn't stop pestering Ash until the raven haired trainer finally gave up.

"Agreed. And I'll be using Arcanine by the way. Now, where can we battle?"

* * *

"You fought against Latias?!" the senior professor shrieked to his grandson. Gary sweat-dropped, deciding not to comment about how his left ear just became deaf; he didn't want the other one to go deaf if his grandpa gave another outburst.

After walking for several minutes, they finally reached the lab that Samuel Oak ran, and immediately, Gary rushed to get his Pokémon healed; since there weren't any Pokémon centres until Viridian, the lab was outfitted with a Pokémon healing machine. Now they were all sat in the very messy living room, with paper and research documents scattered across the floor and even lining the sofas. Gary nodded, recalling the shocking fight against Ash.

"Yeah, and I gotta say, Latias sure is one heck of a strong fighter," he muttered, in awe that his long time friend had managed to catch a legendary.

"I have to study Latias!" Oak shrieked once more, throwing his hands in the air. This time it was Dawn's turn to go deaf.

"Gramps chill out. At this rate we're going to have to start lip-reading," Gary chuckled. The professor lowered his arms, giving his neck an embarrassed rub.

"Sorry, it's just that one of my most promising protégé's has caught a legendary that nobody in the world has had a chance to study. I have to see Latias!" he finished, a love-struck gaze adorning his eyes.

"Well you're never going to get the chance. Not if Ash stays in the mood he's in…" Gary muttered. Dawn looked down at the floor sadly, remembering how their friend had shouted at them. The professor blinked several times.

"And what exactly is wrong with Ash?" he asked, not knowing the reason for Ash's despair, or his disappearance. This time, Gary glanced down at the floor. Dawn's bottom lip trembled, but she remained composed. Taking a deep breath, she began the lengthy tale.

* * *

Several hours had passed since Ash encountered Green; the strangely familiar, yet little known Pokémon trainer. Charizard had his fight against the leader of the Valley, and unfortunately came up short after a brutally devastating fight between the two. He came close, but was overpowered in the end with a potent combination of a hyper-beam and a fire spin from the enemy Charizard. Because of his injuries, Liza allowed both Ash and Green to spend the night in the valley with her, so they could have their battle in the morning when Charizard had recovered.

"Get rested up Charizard, because we can't lose this fight. We've already wasted too much time," Ash muttered to the sleeping fire/flying type. Latias nudged him in the ribs, gaining his attention. She gave a quiet yawn, signalling for her and Ash to get to bed. Understanding, Ash turned away from Charizard, and wandered back into the wooden house and towards the spare bedroom. Since there was only one bed, Latias would have to share with Ash. Green disappeared an hour before, but gave Ash a warning that any escape attempts, and he'd get his Charizard to bring him back.

The guest bedroom was relatively simple; orange in design, with a double bed lying against the back wall, and a window to the wall beside it. Underneath the window lay a wooden dresser. Ash wandered over to the bed, and climbed in. Latias climbed in next to him, wrapping her arms around his chest in a hug as she allowed sleep to embrace her. Ash however, remained awake. Too many thoughts circled around his mind; was he ready to face the trainer atop Mt. Silver once more? Could he risk one of his other Pokémon becoming injured, or worse? And what about Latias, she clearly hated Ash's plans of revenge, but how could be convince her to fight?

The thoughts became too much for him, and he eventually drifted off into the sweet release of the dream world.

…

_The wind ripped a path through the clouds, stinging his eyes with its icy cold bite. But still, he pushed on. The raven haired trainer trekked further and further up the snow covered mountain, battling against the elements of Mother Nature for dominance over the mountain. Suddenly, a lightning bold struck the top of his head, shocking him with 10,000 volts of pure electrical energy. Screaming in pain, Ash ran away from the lightning, climbing as high up the Arceus forsaken mountain._

_He stopped when a yellow blur leapt through the snow and towards him, landing on his shoulder, nuzzling his cheek happily. _

"_Pikachu! I'm so glad you're okay!" Ash smiled as he petted his faithful mouse companion. Suddenly, Pikachu tensed up, eyeing the storm ahead with as much envy as a Magmar in a pool. His cheeks began to crackle with electrical energy, preparing an attack. Suddenly, Latias leapt out of the whipping winds that lay ahead, emerging from the snow cloud, panting heavily, cuts lining her legendary body, her feathers had been ripped out in places, and she harboured severe burns all over her body. One of her wings was bent crooked, as if something big had bitten her. _

_She flew to Ash, hugging him tightly, sobbing into his shoulder. Before Ash could enquire how she'd gotten herself in this state, a bolt of fire shot through the snow cloud ahead, and miraculously engulfed Latias, despite her still hugging Ash tightly. Ash peered through the flames, spying Latias' fragile body being heavily incinerated. She screamed in pain, with a cry that would melt the heart of a Glaceon. _

"_Latias!" Ash screamed through the winds and the flames. After a few seconds, the flames died down, and instantly Ash wished they hadn't; his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and his stomach lurched, wanting to be sick but not finding the fluids to do so. Lying on the floor was a pile of bones, heavily singed as a black coat enveloped them. A few tears escaped Ash's auburn eyes, dripping to the snow below. _

"_Latias…"he uttered, his voice extremely shaky. He looked ahead to find a very large Charizard smirking proudly at Ash, with eyes that demanded power and control in a chilling gaze. Standing behind the Charizard stood a trainer, dressed in a red jacket, blue jeans and matching red hat. His black hair peeked underneath the hat, swaying in the whipping winds. He smirked at Ash, his smile chilling Ash to the very core. He looked back to the remains of the legendary dragoness, and felt the tears stream down his face, falling to the floor like a waterfall of sadness._

"_Latiaaaaaaaaaaaaaas!"_

…

He awoke from his sleep, jolting up. He scanned the dark room, the moonlight filtering through the window, casting an eerie glow on the room. He quietly got out of bed, not wanting to disturb Latias, who fortunately had let go of Ash some point during the night. He quietly walked out of the door, closing it as slowly as possible, and the wood resting in its frame with a quiet click. He walked down the dark corridor to the balcony at the end, and silently slipped out into the night world. The valley was such a beautiful place at night, the moonlight reflecting off the rocks, bathing the entire valley in a silver glow. Charizard were sleeping everywhere, from high up in the rocky cliffs, to down on the floor resting atop makeshift beds crafted out of grass and bamboo found in the valley.

"Can't sleep?" a voice enquired from behind him. Ash turned around, spotting the persistent face of Green. He shook his head.

"Why won't you leave me alone?" Ash asked, tired of having to talk to him. Green smiled at the boy, he could sense Ash's pain, although he didn't know what caused it.

"Because I made a promise to look after you, and to stop you from doing anything you'll regret," he answered simply, walking over to the railing Ash was leaning against.

"It's because of your friend that I'm here in the first place," Ash snapped, not understanding why the boy thought that he needed help. Green shook his head.

"He's a good guy, he's just had a really difficult past…Look, I don't know what's happened, but all I know is that I have to protect you," he said, turning around to walk back into the house. Ash watched his retreating figure.

"Protect me from what?" he asked. Green stopped walking, turning his head back to Ash.

"From yourself," Green replied, before walking off back into the house. Ash sighed, knowing what he meant. He'd been questioning his own actions recently, especially after Latias looked at him so pleadingly. But no matter, he'd finish what he started, despite what anyone said, he was going to get revenge on the trainer in red. He'd feel the same pain that Ash had felt, it's what he would've wanted; the little electric type, Pikachu. He sighed once again, before following in Green's footsteps and walking back into the house. When he walked into the guest bedroom, he was immediately tacked to the ground by something. He looked up to see Latias' worried face staring back at him. She hugged him tightly, resting her head in the crook of his neck, before pulling back and slapping him across the face.

"Ow, Latias, what was that for?" Ash asked, rubbing his cheek. Latias glared at him, transmitting her thoughts; she wasn't an experienced psychic, but she could transmit her thoughts and feelings to others if she needed to. She preferred not to, since it required a lot of energy to do so. Ash felt anger, sadness, and most of all, worry emanate from the disguised dragoness.

"Sorry Latias, I just went to do a bit of thinking," Ash replied, climbing slowly to his feet. Latias nodded, gave him a quick hug, before turning and climbing back into bed. Ash followed suit, and after the small talk with Green, he lay awake, questioning himself. _Is it right to get revenge? Would he want this? Have I really become so different?_ He processed these questions for another hour, before finally giving in to his eyes, and falling into the sweet embrace of slumber once more. Tomorrow, he would fight against Green…For his freedom.

Unbeknown to Ash, Latias was still awake, with thought of her own circling around her mind. She woke just before Ash did, and read his dream. She saw the moment where she died in Ash's nightmare, and the despair that hit Ash. She saw everything, and that's what really scared her. The boys encounter with this mysterious trainer has had some really damaging effects on his psychology. She shivered, before closing her eyes, drifting off back into the ethereal realm know as the dream world.

* * *

"This will be a one-on-one battle between Green and Ash. Both trainers please release your Pokémon," Liza announced to the trainers on opposite ends of the battlefield. The field itself was nothing special; a flat dusty surface that covered a large area, giving combatants plenty of room to battle. Ash plucked a pokeball from his belt, before throwing it in the air.

"Go Charizard!" he yelled. The ball snapped open, and a crimson red beam shot down to the ground. When the light dissipated, Charizard was revealed, grinning broadly at the prospect of fighting alongside his trainer once more. Green smirked; he'd had plenty of experience dealing with Charizards. He threw his ball high into the air.

"Arcanine go!" he yelled, as the figure of a large wolf-like Pokémon appeared; standing elegantly on all fours, yet with a ferocious look adorning its eyes. The Arcanine howled to the sky, announcing to the world its arrival to battle; its red and yellow fur glistening in the light of the early morning sun. Liza looked at both trainers, before nodding and raising her flags.

"Let the battle commence!" she ordered, slamming her flags down to her sides, signalling the start of the battle. Ash took the initiative and attacked first.

"Charizard use Dragon breath!" he ordered. Charizard leaned his head back, before spewing a torrent of green flames at the other fire type. What Green ordered next was what shocked Ash the most.

"Arcanine, take the attack," he said simply, catching both Ash and Charizard off-guard. Complying, Arcanine stood still and let the attack engulf it, singing its fur with powerful draconic energy. When Charizard let the attack finish, Arcanine roared proudly; the attack did barely anything!

"Charizard use steel wing!" Ash ordered, frustrated that one of his most powerful combatants couldn't even leave a scratch on the wolf-like Pokémon. Charizard nodded, as it hardened its wings, focusing steel energy into each wing, giving them a metallic glow as they hardened to steel-like properties. Then it charged at Arcanine with amazing speed, quick enough to catch Green off guard. '_That Charizard is speedy, so I have to stay on the offensive,' _Green thought, eyeing Charizard carefully. At the last second, he ordered his attack.

"Arcanine use flamethrower," he said, confident that Charizard couldn't push through Arcanines' flames, despite it being a fire type. Arcanine nodded, and quickly fired a torrent of scorching hot flames at Charizard, who watched the on-coming attack with a smirk. Undeterred, the dragon like Pokémon charged head first through the extremely powerful flames, not losing any speed or power in doing so. With a mighty roar, he slammed his wings into a stunned Arcanine with as much might as he could muster flying at this speed. With a yelp, Arcanine was knocked over onto the floor as the attack connected to the side of his neck.

Charizard flew back to Ash, grinning proudly as he spat a short torrent of fire into the air. Green looked at Charizard with surprise; nobody could ever withstand Arcanines flamethrower! And yet, this Charizard brushed it off like it was nothing, even if it was a fire-type it should have still felt some damage due to the sheer power.

He glanced back at Arcanine, who was slowly standing up, shaking the pain away from his neck; the steel type attack wasn't very effective against a fire-type like Arcanine, yet Charizard thrust so much power into it to actually knock Arcanine clean off its feet. The Pokémon shook his head, growling lowly at Charizard through a jaw full of razor sharp fangs.

"I've gotta say Ash, your Charizard is very well trained. But it still can't beat my Arcanine!" Green declared. Ash nodded, for the first time ever not feeling enthusiastic about a battle. Charizard roared in defiance, glaring at Arcanine.

"Arcanine, use Extremespeed!" Green ordered. Within a second, Arcanine had completely vanished, until a split second later it reappeared, crashing into Charizards side with tremendous speed and power. Charizard winced in pain, but endured the hit, more than used to close combat thanks to the other Charizard in the valley.

"Crunch!" Green commanded. Arcanine growled at Charizard, sinking its teeth into the fire and flying types tail, earning a roar of pain from the angry Pokémon.

"Charizard, pry it off and use seismic toss!" Ash shouted. Charizard proceeded to thrashing its tail around, trying to knock the Arcanine off, but if anything Arcanine only bit down harder, and actually drawing blood. Charizard smacked its cheek with its wings, trying desperately to pry it off, but every attempt he made only made the wolf bite down harder; Charizard was sure his tail was about to come clean off.

"Charizard, fly as high as you can!" Ash panicked. Charizard beat its huge wings, sending dust flying, some into Arcanines eyes, making it loosen its grip. Slowly, due to the extra weight, Charizard flew higher and higher until the two fire types were merely dots in the sky.

"Arcanine, hang on!" Green ordered frantically, worried that a fall from that distance would knock out the Pokémon for sure.

"Charizard, Seismic toss! Grab its tail with your claws!" Ash shouted. Charizard, barely hearing its master's request, gripped Arcanines tail with his razor sharp claws, making the Pokémon immediately lose its grip on Charizards tail. Smirking, Charizard grabbed Arcanines neck with his free set of claws, flying higher into the sky that even their fire types were starting to get chilly. When Charizard was satisfied, he spun around in several circles, increasing his momentum greatly. Arcanine could only watch in horror as Charizard began to rapidly descend, flying at incredible speeds as they plummeted towards the ground. About 20 feet from the surface, Charizard raised its arms, and threw the terrified wolf down to the ground as hard as he could, before stretching his wings to stabilise himself. Arcanine kept plummeting, even faster thanks to Charizards throw. Greens eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as fear overtook him.

"Arcanine!" he shrieked in terror as his Pokémon was slammed into the ground with tremendous force, sending dust flying, creating an explosion of earth that surrounded the impact site for several minutes. When the smoke died down, a crater was revealed, that was at least 30 feet deep. To Ash's and Charizards utter astonishment, Arcanine had withstood the tremendous attack, and was stood, panting heavily at the bottom of the crater; cuts lined its body from the earth explosion. Green smirked, glancing over at Ash.

"It will take a lot more than that to take out my Arcanine!" he smugly announced, causing Ash to clench his teeth. _'This guy just doesn't give up!' _he thought indignantly. Charizard huffed, thinking that the last attack should've finished the puppy off by now.

"Arcanine, use Extremespeed nonstop!" Green ordered, knowing that Charizard relied mainly on brute strength. Arcanine nodded, leaping out of the crater and proceeded to dashing around the field at incredible speeds. Charizard spun around, trying to spot the speedy wolf, but failed miserably. Every now and again, he would get hit by the dashing Pokémon, causing him to become weaker and weaker with every blow he took. Before long, he wouldn't be in the battle anymore. Ash gritted his teeth, formulating a strategy to take down the oversized pup once and for all.

"Charizard use steel wing as hard as you can on the ground!" He ordered. Charizard looked at him as if he'd lost all ability to think, but nonetheless complied with Ash's strange request and hardened his wings. A second later, he slammed them into the ground in front of him, sending rocks and dirt flying in every direction. Luck was on his side, as a large rock made contact with the near invisible Arcanine, causing it to yelp in pain. Charizard grinned, liking Ash's plan; his trainer never failed to impress him with his unique battle style.

"Charizard, finish this off with Steel wing!" Ash ordered, as Charizard charged at Arcanine with surprising speed, beating his mighty hardened wings as he approached the groggy Pokémon. _'Gotcha,'_ Charizard thought, as contact was made. He slammed his powerful wings down on Arcanines head, slamming the poor Pokémon into the ground, embedding its skull in rocks, with two swirls for eyes. Liza nodded, before turning to face the field.

"Arcanine is unable to battle. The victory goes to Ash and Charizard," she announced, waving the flag on Ash's side. Green sighed, returning his Pokémon.

"You fought well, my friend. Thanks," he muttered to the ball before pocketing it. Charizard walked back over to Ash, smirking proudly.

"Well done Charizard, now return," Ash said, returning the powerhouse into his pokeball for a much needed rest. Ash turned back to Green, glaring at him from across the field.

"You lose. Now leave me alone," he snapped, before turning to walk away, Latias sadly following him. He'd lost a lot of time getting Charizard, but at least he was one step closer. Only two more to go, until he could finally extract his revenge.

* * *

**Ok, I apologise if this chapter seems a little...off. I'm still getting into the swing of things with writing, not to mention I'm working on another fic at the same time as this. Bear with me, I'll get sorted out eventually.**

**Also, I'm sorry to announce that instead of updating every week (Friday), I'll be updating every two weeks (still Friday) instead. That way, it gives me more time to write a better quality piece, rather than rushing through a chapter in a week. **

**I managed to squeeze a fight scene in here. Originally, I was going to add a fight scene between Charizard and the leader Charizard, but I decided to have Ash and Green duke it out instead. Hopefully you liked it. **

**I felt this chapter started a little slow, but picked up towards the middle...Eh, whatever, that's for you to decide. Again, I apologise if what I've wrote isn't as good a quality as previous chapter; taking a couple of weeks break from writing really does affect a person...**

**As I mentioned, I've started working on another fic; a christmassy fic, which shall be uploaded some time in December. **

**You'll also be seeing plenty more of Dawn and Gary, despite their small part in this chapter.**

**I haven't decided what pairing I'm going to do, but I do have a rough idea, which does match on how the story pans out towards the end.**

**Also, I tried to establish that Latias actually has a character, and isn't just a pokemon. I hope I've been successful. **

**Finally, I thank my dear readers, followers, or reviewers. I may not have many, but I love you all!**

**Thanks for bearing with me while I was on hiatus, the next update will be soon. See you two weeks later!**

**Leave me an early Christmas present, and REVIEW! *Happy dance***

**until next time!**


	13. The Training

**Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh! This chapter was so hard to write! But it is here, as promised, enjoy. And be sure to read the A/N at the bottom, I have some more information for you guys. As usual, thanks goes to all my reviewers, and a special shout-out to Kimmy-1016, Remnants of Serenity, Bluedog270 and EliteLuther for their continued support. EliteLuther, you've seriously got to get an account, I want to thank you personally for all the help you've given me (and I did notice your review on "_Sweet dreams_"). Also, I'd like to give a shout-out to HollowKU for his support, be sure to check out his awesome "Red meets Ash" fic. Without further ado, I present chapter 12 :)**

* * *

"Charizard use flamethrower. Gabite use Dragon rage," Ash ordered. The two dragon-like Pokémon charged up the attacks in their jaws, before expelling the powerful energy towards its opponent; a fiery mix of red and yellow weaving a path through the air towards the land shark, while a potent beam of green draconic energy charged towards the fire and flying type. Both attacks connected, meeting in the middle as a stalemate; it stayed like this for a few seconds, neither Pokémon wanting to give a single inch to the other.

Then it happened, all of his hard training in the valley was put to use as Charizard channelled more energy into the fiery attack, pushing the Dragon rage back much to Gabites surprise. In a last final attempt, Gabite cancelled the attack and attempted to flee, but to no avail as he was consumed by the scorching flames. Despite fire not being very effective to Gabite, the dragon had to admit that Charizard packed a real punch.

With one last burst of energy, Charizard cancelled the attack, letting the flames dispel into mere embers that scattered across the dusty landscape. Gabite glared at the smirking Charizard, secretly impressed by the fire type's sheer power.

"Good work Charizard. Gabite, we need to work on your attack," Ash said, praising his proud fire type. Gabite nodded, happy knowing that he was going to get stronger; then he'd wipe that grin off that overgrown lizards face. Latias watched the exchange intently; curious as to how Ash normally treats his Pokémon. In the brief time she met him all those years ago, she only ever saw him with Pikachu, and it was strange seeing him interact with his other Pokémon; training with them and caring for them. The fact he cared so much for their wellbeing was a real comfort to the eon dragon; Ash was still in there somewhere, being hidden by his new cold exterior. She just needed some way of breaking through, but what?

"Gabite, attack that rock over there with Dragon pulse," the raven haired trainer commanded, pointing to a large rock to the side of the group. Gabite nodded, and began gathering draconic energy in the form of a small green sphere. The energy manifested in between its claws, increasing in power, crackling with pure dragon energy, until Gabite released it, slamming it forward to propel the powerful ball of energy into the rock. On impact, the rock literally exploded, sending pieces showering down across the rugged landscape in all directions. The group was unhurt however, after a quick psychic barrier from the eon Pokémon dispelled any incoming debris.

"Great work Gabite," Ash praised at the grinning dragon after the smoke had cleared thanks to a quick flap of Charizards mighty wings. Ash glanced at the impact site, where a huge crater was left in substitution of the rock; it looked as if Groudon used Fissure! Despite the extreme power displayed by the small dragon, he still had a long way to go before he was ready, which meant an awful lot of training in a very short time period; the Pokémon poachers were still around Mt. Silver, and he was desperately running out of time.

Unfortunately for him, he had ordered Mewtwo to teleport Dawn and Gary to Pallet town, and Ash's next Pokémon was waiting near there; he couldn't risk seeing them once again, this time they might have developed a plan to actually stop him and since they were so far away from Cerulean, Mewtwo wouldn't be able to do too much to help.

'That's what you think,' the psychic type echoed through his head. Ash sighed, fed up with everyone watching him constantly. Despite what Mewtwo said, he still didn't want to risk going near to Pallet until he definitely knew it was safe; that meant some free time training with his Pokémon.

"Alright Gabite, I want you to use Dragon claw repeatedly on the cliff over there. That should help sharpen your attack skills," he explained to the dragon type. Nodding in conformation, Gabite wandered over to where Ash pointed, and powered up his claws. They began glowing with a brilliant white light, with a slight green tinge, as he powered up the powerful attack. The claws elongated to twice their original size, before Gabite finally began swiping at the cliff face, pummelling the rocky surface with his powerful claws. Satisfied, Ash turned to Charizard.

"Since you've been training a lot lately, I want you to take it easy and just practice some attacks. Use those rocks over there," he said, pointing to a field full of rocks about 100 metres or so away from them. Charizard grunted, walking off to practice. Ash turned back to Gabite, observing the dragons' precise slashes at the cliff face. Already, the cliff was marked with several deep gashes, tearing a path through the rugged surface as the land shark continued to pound relentlessly, not even breaking a sweat.

"Good work Gabite, keep it up," Ash praised, walking over to the disguised eon. Latias was looking around the ravine they were in, scanning the high cliffs furiously. Something wasn't right, she could sense it. She extended her psychic senses, building a mental image of the ravine with her mind, but came across nothing but rocks and the occasional wild Pokémon. Still, it didn't shake the feeling that someone was following them.

"Latias?" a voice shattered her thoughts. The dragoness turned towards her trainer, who was staring at her confused. She blushed slightly, which went unnoticed by Ash.

"What's wrong?" he asked, aware that Latias could now use a very basic telepathy to communicate with him; she still needed training to use it effectively, but she could still transmit basic thoughts and feelings. Latias turned her head, scanning the area one final time, before returning to stare at her trainer, beginning her transmission. Ash stared at her, as the psychic implanted her thoughts into his mind.

"Someone's following us?" he asked after a few moments. Latias hesitantly nodded, still unsure herself.

'Mewtwo, is anyone following us?' Ash asked mentally. There was a moment's pause, before the powerful psychic responded.

'I am sensing a very faint presence of a human near your location. However, they seem to be shielding themselves with a psychic barrier. Whoever it is, they have the help of a powerful psychic,' the clone Pokémon responded. Ash turned to Latias, nodding, confirming her accusations.

"Keep an eye out Latias. If anyone approaches, Pokémon or person, let me know," he said before walking towards the land shark; still attacking the cliff strongly, reducing the sturdy wall to a small cavern already, despite only training for half an hour. Latias watched his retreating figure, before turning her head, once again doing a psychic sweep of the area. Her psychic skills weren't as advanced as Mewtwo's, therefore couldn't pick up any trace of a human or a psychic type. She gave a silent sigh, before continuing watching her trainer train his Pokémon. _Why doesn't Ash want to train me? _She thought glumly to herself. Still, she remained silent, unable to shake the feeling that something was about to go _very_ wrong; but what?

* * *

He watched the raven haired trainer with extreme curiosity. It was interesting to see just how a trainer becomes so powerful, even to beat the runner up of the Kanto league all those years ago without even breaking a sweat. This boy sure was mysterious, but dangerous at that. He made a promise, and he sure as hell was going to keep it.

"Get stronger Ash, it will take every ounce of strength you and your Pokémon possess to be able to take us down," he muttered to himself. The tall, human-like Pokémon cocked its head in confusion; being a powerful psychic type, his superior senses could easily catch what his trainer just said. Alakazam hadn't a clue what his master was talking about. Who was we supposed to mean? And why were they spying on this boy? The psychic type turned his head in confusion back to the boy in the valley below, curious to his masters' recent behaviour.

"Alakazam, can you increase the strength of the shield at all? I have a feeling that little Ash has some very powerful friends," he asked the psychic, observing Ash's scan of the valley from down below. He didn't know how it was possible, but Ash always seemed to be getting help from somewhere. He didn't know by who or even how, but he couldn't take any more chances. From his battle with Ash, he easily found out just how strong this trainer was.

The wind blew across the valley, rocking his hair in a gentle swaying motion in tune with the rhythm of the dancing breeze. His spiky brown hair swayed past his eye, turning his attention slightly. That was when he noticed her. She was sat on a rock observing the trainer quietly, every now and again glancing around the valley. He hadn't heard this mysterious girl speak, yet the boy seemed to communicate just fine with her. What did he call her? Latias?

He thought back to the brief conversation with his grandpa, and just how excited he had been at the mention of the name. Could this actually be the legendary eon dragon? He shook his head; this was a girl, it was impossible for her to be a Pokémon. But he was curious, that he couldn't deny.

"What are you hiding?" he muttered, once again earning a confused glance from the psychic type at his side; eyes still glowing, forming a protective psychic barrier around them rendering them invisible to the senses…

Or so they thought. Far away, an extremely powerful being had been observing them through its minds' eye. Despite the precautions this stranger took, the clone Pokémon could see right through their façade. Sure his Alakazam was powerful, but not powerful enough to block out the world's most powerful psychic type. After the brief glimpse he caught of them through his psych, he investigated further, cutting straight through their little shield in a matter of minutes.

"Interesting," he thought out loud, his powerful psychic voice reverberating off the solid walls of the cave. He continued his observations silently, before a chuckle escaped his mind.

'Looks like the predator has turned into the prey,' he joked; a rare occurrence for the usually tense psychic. He strained his psych, getting a clearer view of the new trainer and his powerful Pokémon.

'Ash, you'd best prepare for the battle that's bound to ensue.'

* * *

"Oh my…" was all the professor could say after Dawn and Gary finally finished their lengthy tale. At the news of Pikachu's passing, the old professor started to well up, but remained composed after a pat on the shoulder from his grandson.

"Poor Ash," he muttered, looking down at the floor. Just yesterday, he'd been ecstatic that his prize pupil had caught a legendary and used it in battle against his own grandson, but now the boy's lengthy, and incredibly painful tale had been told, he couldn't help but feel guilty.

"We're not giving up," Dawn stated confidently, standing up as she said this. The professor glanced up to look at her, confusion present in his withering, yet strangely glowing eyes.

"You have a plan?" he asked. The coordinator sweat-dropped, realising she hadn't quite thought the situation through.

"Hehehe, well, I guess we could start with a plan now?" she asked, smiling embarrassingly towards the professor of Pokémon. Gary shook his head, chuckling slightly.

"Well, we know that Ash has Latias and Gabite, two very powerful Pokémon so if we want to even attempt at stopping him, we need to be ready," Gary stated, thinking back to their sorrowful encounter with the boy. Dawn nodded glumly, beginning to accept the momentous task they had set themselves.

A beep from the professors' computer caught their attention, as three sets of eyes focused their gaze on the flickering screen.

"New data received?" The senior professor asked out loud, wandering over to the old computer sat atop a very messy desk. He moved the mouse, clicking several buttons to access the new data.

"It's from Ash," he said. Immediately, he was charged by the two teenagers, eager to see what Ash was up to. Their eyes scanned the screen, reading the information of the trainer.

"Pokémon capture?" Dawn asked, reading aloud the text displayed on the screen.

"Ash caught a new Pokémon?" Gary asked, as the old professor proceeded to clicking the "more information" button. Immediately, Ash's latest catch illuminated the screen, and the Pokémon profile that appeared instantly froze the two scientists. Dawn, however, remained confused.

"I thought Ash already had a Charizard," the blunette said. Gary tore his eyes away from the screen, providing the confused coordinator an explanation.

"He does, but when he left Charizard to train in the Charicific valley, he had to release him so he wasn't a legal part of Ash's active roster, with the promise that he'd return to re-capture Charizard once it was the strongest Charizard alive," he said, speaking in a deathly quiet tone that even chilled the normally joyous coordinator to the bone.

"But then, if Ash's Charizard is really that powerful, then how are we going to stop him?" she asked, not exactly certain of what they were stopping him from. Nonetheless, she bit her lip in fear and anticipation of the answer to her question.

"More importantly, why is Ash assembling a team of powerful Pokémon. He now has the pre-evolution of a pseudo-legendary, an actual legendary and supposedly the world's most powerful Charizard," the senior professor muttered gravely, finally realising just how powerful his protégé had become; it was a scary, yet exciting thought.

"Grandpa, are there any upcoming leagues or competitions?" Gary asked. To his dismay, the professor shook his head.

"No, the Kanto league finished just before the Sinnoh league, and the Johto and Hoenn leagues have both finished several weeks ago," he explained, trying to develop his own idea of Ash's all-star team.

"Wait; doesn't that computer say where Ash's last capture was?" Dawn queried. The two professors stared at her for a moment, before realisation hit them. Frantically, the old professor began pressing keys, pulling up the information.

"It happened in the Charicific valley last night," the professor read. Gary stood up and walked towards the video phone on the opposite side of the room.

"What are you doing?" Dawn asked as the professor once again became engrossed by the computer and the information it was displaying. Gary punched in a number to the phone, and the screen flickered to life.

"Calling the Charicific valley, maybe Ashy boy hasn't left yet," he explained as Dawn wandered over. A few seconds passed, before an image appeared on the screen, as a young woman with spiky green hair and a red jagged shirt materialized.

"Hello, this is the Charicific valley, how may I help you," the woman asked politely, not recognising Gary.

"Is a trainer called Ash Ketchum with you?" Gary asked, cutting straight to the point; now wasn't the time to make new friends.

"Uh Ash picked up his Charizard and left about an hour ago, but he said he'd be training in the area for a while," Liza explained, confused. Why were these people interested in Ash? Gary nodded, giving her a quick "thanks" before hanging up. He quickly walked back to his grandpa, snapping him out of the trance the computer threw him in.

"We need to get to the Charicific valley NOW!" he ordered, not caring that he was shouting at his own grandfather. The senior scientist blinked several times, before pulling out a pokeball from his pocket and handing it to the flustered boy.

"Alakazam should be ready to teleport by now, but w-"he began, but was cut off as his grandson dashed out of the room, dragging Dawn along in his wake. As soon as they arrived outside, the brown haired boy snapped the pokeball open, revealing the psychic type, standing proudly despite the tiring battle he endured.

"Where are we going?" Dawn asked impatiently, but the scientist gave no response as he turned to his faithful Pokémon.

"Alakazam, can you teleport us to Violet city?" he asked. Alakazam nodded, as it began concentrating its psych. A blue aura surrounded the two trainers as the psychic type pulled them into his vision of Violet city. Dawn sighed; grudgingly taking hold of Gary's outstretched hand. Expecting an answer when they teleported, she let Alakazam reach her psych with his. The light began shining more intensely, as the teleport took effect. Within a few more seconds, they were both gone, sucked into the mysterious psychic realm once more.

Next stop, Ashy-boy.

* * *

"Gabite use dragon rage," Ash ordered. After many hours of training, Gabite's attack and defence, as well as his overall level had increased dramatically, making him a very admirable threat to any opponent the raven haired trainer faced. After a quick spray of a max potion, Gabite was fully recharged; strength renewed to fight even more for his trainer. Now wanting to see just how much Gabite's training has paid off, Gabite and Charizard were thrown into a friendly spar, Charizard ordering himself.

Gabite charged up the cackling dragon energy in its jaw, before exhaling a potent stream of pure dragon fire, swirling with powerful energy within its green tint as it flew through the afternoon sky towards the large fire type. Charizard smirked, impressed with just how much Gabite's attack power had improved in such a short time. Thinking quickly, the dragon-like Pokémon swung its tail around to face the powerful attack, and miraculously used his tail as a shield. What amazed Ash even more was the fact that Charizard was feeling no pain what so ever as it confidently chuckled at the attempt to injure it.

Once Gabite ended the powerful attack, he stood glaring at Charizard, who by now had turned around to face to angry dragon type.

"_My turn,"_ Charizard huffed in poke-speech, as he leaned his head back, gathering a burning inferno of dancing flames within his jaw. Within a second, the torrent of fire flooded the entire makeshift battle arena, catching Gabite off-guard as the land shark became engulfed in the scorching hot flames. Even Ash had to take a step back to try and avoid the heat, but was saved any more misery after Latias raised a quick safe-guard, shielding the two from the powerful combatants and the raging fire.

"Gabite use dig!" Ash shouted frantically; even with a type disadvantage, he could tell that the flamethrower attack was doing considerable damage to the land shark. Hearing his trainer through the crackling flames, Gabite leapt high into the air, before throwing his powerful claws in front of him as he began his descent. In a swift and fluid motion, Gabite had disappeared underneath the ground, impressing the trainer even further at how easily he broke through the thick blanket of rock below. 'It won't be long,' he thought silently, thinking just how much Gabite had grown in an extremely short amount of time.

Charizard ceased his onslaught, eyeing the ground warily, before he flapped his mighty wings and ascended into the boundless skies above; thinking he'd outsmarted his opponent.

How wrong he was.

Despite the extreme type disadvantage with using Dig against a flying type enemy, Gabite charged out from the ground, leaping high into the air and catching the fire/flying type off guard.

"Gabite use dragon claw!" Ash shouted to make his voice heard through the vast sky the combatants were now fighting in. Gabite charged up his claws, as they elongated twice as long, and twice as sharp. Crackling with green energy, Gabite slammed one claw into Charizards side, knocking his balance and causing the orange Pokémon to flap his mighty wings harder just to stay airborne. But it wasn't over yet, as Gabite slammed his other claw into Charizards neck, throwing him down and effectively knocking him out of the sky.

With a mighty crash, Charizard slammed into the hard ground, sending dust flying to cover the crater the two battlers had left. Gabite landed safely on its feet, watching the dust cloud swirling around the impact site. When the smoke and dust began to dissipate, Charizard stood smirking, cuts lined its body, and there was a large bruise on its side from the impact, but otherwise he was completely unhurt.

He shot a jet of fire into the air, announcing that the battle was far from over as he eyed his opponent, vengeance present in his chilling gaze. Gabite reared into battle stance, throwing its claws out in front of him threateningly, but Charizard was unmoved by the threat. Ash cracked a small smile at seeing just how powerful his faithful Charizard had become.

"Alright Gabite use-"

"Very impressive Ash," a voice cut off Ash's command. He swerved his head around, scanning the area for the source of the familiar voice. The trainer groaned when he found the owner of the voice; Green walked out of the shadows of a large boulder to the side of the makeshift battlefield.

"I thought we agreed that you'd leave me alone," Ash sighed, fed up of being chased by the other trainer. Green smirked, before a small chuckle escaped his mouth.

"You really think I'm going to go letting you do something rash? I made a promise, and I'm going to do my best to keep it," he said, bringing out a pokeball from his belt and pointing it at Ash. The raven haired trainer turned to the disguised dragoness, glaring at her.

"I thought I told you to tell me if anyone was near!" he snapped. Latias' eyes began to water at the scold her trainer gave her. Turning her head away, she began to silently cry; _why was her trainer being like this? He was fine before Green arrived! _

'Ash, do not blame Latias. This trainer's Alakazam was shielding him from any psychic probes, it would have been impossible for Latias to sense him,' Mewtwo responded in his mind. Ash felt guilty, but quickly cast it aside, turning back to the trainer and making a mental note to apologise to the dragoness later.

"What do you want!" he yelled, anger once again rising in his voice. Green smirked once more, still holding up the pokeball.

"I want a battle."

* * *

He woke up in an extremely bright room, glaring down at him, snapping his eyes open from the deep sleep that had embraced him. He glanced around, not seeing anything except for white washed halls as far as the eye could see. He noted the absence of any light sources, wondering silently how the hallowed halls were so brightly lit. He stood up shakily, feet gaining a firm grip on the highly polished white marble floor. Placing one foot in front of the other, he began walking down the seemingly empty hall, wondering just where he was. There was no sound present; not even the tapping of his feet against the hard floor could be heard. Yet the halls seemed to emit a regal atmosphere, chilling, yet exciting him to his very core.

A bright yellow light appeared, shining even brighter than the painfully bright halls of this mysterious palace; each second that passed the light shone even brighter. Four long legs elongated from the base of the mysterious yellow light, and soon enough, a body followed suit, wrapped in what appeared to be a brace of some sort around its midsection. Finally, a long slender neck sprouted from the torso, revealing a hauntingly beautiful face, complete with blood red eyes which pierced through the light. The light died down, revealing the regal looking newcomer, elegantly landing on all four feet, as it faced forward. With a calm, serene yet powerful voice, the elegant Pokémon spoke one simple line:

"Hello my child, welcome to the hall of origin."

* * *

**Three guesses as to who's in the last section of this chapter xD**

**This chapter was very hard to write, and recently I've fallen ill, so currently this hasn't been proof-read so I apologise if there is a noticeable abundance of typos/spelling mistakes. **

**I think I'll stick to the two week schedule, it gives me plenty of time to write that way. **

**Either way, I'm fairly happy with how this turned out, but I won't do a happy dance since Remnant****s of serenity scolded me last chapter. So instead, I'll just nod and grunt ambiguously. "Hmph."**

**Hopefully I'll be well enough to drag my lazy self to my laptop and write the next chapter within two weeks.**

**Also, Ash still has two pokemon to go. Who could they be? I'll give you a hint: They're both Pokemon.**

**...That hint might seem obvious, but if you _carefully_ think about it, you'll understand. **

**That about does it for me, folks. See you in two weeks!**

**It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! So give me an early present and REVIEW! xD**

**Cya!**


	14. The Lie

**Hello, I'm back! I felt guilty for uploading such a short chapter last week, despite having two weeks to write it, so I wrote this; a full chapter battle royale! Remnants of Serenity, EliteLuther, Kimmy-1016, Bluedog270 and HollowKU, Thank you so much! Also a big thanks to Omegaxis1 for helping me with part of the battle (I'll write at the bottom A/N to avoid spoilers). I will have some important information regarding the upload schedule in the A/N at the bottom, so be sure to read. As always, R&R, it keeps me writing!**

* * *

"A battle?" Ash asked. Green nodded, lowering the pokeball in his outstretched arm.

"How does a six-versus-six sound?" Green asked. The raven haired trainer immediately shook his head.

"I only have two useable Pokémon right now," he lied. Latias cocked her head, wondering which two Pokémon he was excluding and why. Green looked dumbfounded at Ash's response.

"You're kidding right? A trainer as strong as you only having two Pokémon?" he asked incredulously. Ash, again, shook his head.

"I have lots of Pokémon, but only two with me right now," he responded, still lying about having four useable Pokémon. Green chuckled.

"Okay, a two-versus-two then," he responded.

"Why should I battle you?" Ash asked, becoming very irritated at the boy's stubbornness. Green thought for a moment, poking his finger to his chin in thought.

"If you beat me this time, I'll leave you alone. Does that sound fair?" he lied. Ash sighed, being as gullible as ever, he nodded his head. Green smiled, before walking off to the other side of the make-shift battlefield. Ash returned to his side, before Latias jabbed him in the ribs to gain his attention. Ash stared into her eyes, as she began transmitting her thoughts to the trainer.

"I don't want people to know I have legendaries, and I don't want you to battle yet," he said, but before Latias questioned why, he turned back to the battlefield, looking across towards Green. The disguised dragoness silently sighed, wondering why her trainer wasn't, well, training her.

"You have the honour Ash," Green yelled, smiling strangely kindly towards the raven haired trainer. Ash nodded, before barking out his first Pokémon.

"Charizard get in there," he commanded. The fire type nodded and walked onto the battlefield, a proud smirk adorning his face. Green threw a pokeball onto his side of the field, and with a pop, the ball snapped open. The red beam shot down to the ground, elongating into a very large shape. When the beam had died down, an angry looking Gyarados was revealed. Ash stared incredulously at the water and flying type; Green was really going to use a Gyarados on a field with absolutely no rain?

Latias shivered when Gyarados appeared, remembering the battle against Misty where Ash ruthlessly ordered her to attack Misty's helpless Gyarados. She sensed resentment from the boy after the incident, but Latias was still scared that her trainer had ordered her to do such a thing.

Charizard flinched slightly, as Gyarados' intimidate ability activated, splicing Charizards tremendous attack strength down to laughable standards from within the Charicific valley. He growled lowly at the angry atrocious Pokémon.

"Don't think you have a disadvantage with Gyarados not being able to swim. We're still taking down that Charizard!" Green yelled confidently from across the battlefield. Gyarados roared in approval at his trainers words. Ash nodded, knowing he was at a type disadvantage. '_I need to play this carefully,_' he thought to himself, knowing firsthand just how powerful Gyarados' could be.

"Charizard keep your distance," Ash warned. Fire type grunted in response, trusting his trainers warning.

"Gyarados use hyper beam in the centre of the field," Green ordered, a smirk on his face. Ash stared on, confused; _why would he attack the battlefield?_ Gyarados charged up a volatile ball of energy between its massive powerful jaws. After his power levels reached critical strength, he fired the beam of orange crackling energy at the centre of the field, exploding on impact which violently shook the earth and jarred loose masses of earth and stone. Latias put up a quick safe-guard to protect her trainer, however Charizard wasn't so lucky and received the brunt of the explosion, catching rocks and stone to all parts of his dragon-like body. He flew up into the sky to avoid receiving any more damage.

When the smoke had finally cleared, a huge crater had replaced the entire battlefield, Gyarados thrashing around at the bottom of the deep scarred earth. To say Ash was stunned was like saying Snorlax liked the occasional snack; a vast understatement. He stood, open mouthed at the sight of extreme power before him. He knew Green was good, but this good? The battle hadn't even fully started and he'd already been impressed by Green's tremendous power.

Ash shook his head, snapping himself back to reality. He glanced up, spying Charizard scowling at the atrocious Pokémon from the safety of the boundless sky above; even Charizard was impressed, and it took a tremendous amount of power or skill to impress the fire and flying type.

"Charizard, while it's stunned use steel wing!" Ash shouted, taking advantage of his opponents' disability of temporary paralysis. Charizard nodded, as his wings began to glow a bright white, hardening to steel-like properties. With speed, he began his descent, flying straight at Gyarados, murderous intention blazing in his fiery eyes. With a roar, he slammed both steel-like appendages into the atrocious Pokémon, earning a loud shriek from said Pokémon. Green didn't look too bothered by this attack; it would take a lot more to knock out his Gyarados. Charizard flew past the water and flying type, climbing into the sky after the attack was finished.

"Gyarados use rain dance. Focus all of your energy into it," Green ordered calmly, knowing he had control of the battle. Gyarados nodded, as he turned and glared up into the sunny sky as if the world itself was the enemy. Its body began glowing blue, as its water type aura enveloped the beast. With a mighty huff, Gyarados exhaled a blue ball of water energy straight into the sky. When it disappeared into the heavens above, the sky became littered in dark clouds, blotting out the sun and casting an eerie shadow across the valley. A few second later, a torrential downpour took place. The rain was so heavy that the crater of a battlefield began to slowly fill up with water…

…'_wait, water? Oh no!'_ the raven haired trainer suddenly realised Greens plan, but was too late to act upon it. He could only watch in horror as the crater gradually transformed into a huge lake. Regretfully, ash finally realised that Green had control over the entire battle, as well as the field. Any attempt to evaporate the water would fail, since the torrential downpour was weakening the fire type dramatically; any fire attack would just dissipate into mere embers.

"Give up yet?" Green asked, a proud smirk adjourning his face. Ash shook his head, never one to give up. He'd find a way to regain control, but how? He couldn't even see Gyarados now, thanks to the protective lake that had already formed.

"Charizard, fly down and attack the water with a flamethrower. Make it extra hot!" He ordered, thinking desperately on how to expose Gyarados. Charizard nodded glumly; he hated the rain. He flew down to the surface of the water, charging up the intense flames in his mouth.

"Hydro pump," Green said confidently. Gyarados leapt out of the water, stunning the fire-type long enough to pause the attack he was preparing. With a mighty roar, the atrocious Pokémon fired a torrent of powerful water at the vulnerable fire type. Too close to get away, Charizard took the attack, sending the fire-type flying across the battlefield, flapping his powerful wings in a desperate attempt to stay airborne and out of the newly formed lake.

"Charizard!" Ash yelled, concerned over his Pokémon's welfare; a reassuring thought to Latias, knowing that the real Ash was still buried somewhere deep inside this imposter. Growling lowly, Charizard flew above the attack, panting heavily from taking the powerful attack dead on.

"Charizard, you ok?" Ash asked. Charizard nodded, glaring at the water which Gyarados had retreated to. It would take a lot more than that to knock the proud fire-type out, despite Gyarados' extreme power behind the attack.

"Charizard fly directly at the water and use steel wing in the centre!" the raven haired trainer commanded. Charizard looked at its trainer incredulously; he was a fire type, yet his trainer wanted him to fly at a lake of water with a very strong, very angry Gyarados lurking somewhere within the lake?

"Just do it," he sighed, knowing Charizards dislike of water. Grimacing, Charizard turned back to the water below. How hard could it be? It's only like the rain that was pouring, except it was in one big clump, right? Bracing himself, Charizard charged at the water, preparing steel wing at the same time as his wings hardened to extreme strength. Holding his breath, Charizard slammed the surface of the water with both wings, earning a huge tidal wave to form and envelop the poor fire type. Flapping desperately, he managed to escape the cruel grip of the water, as it showered the entire area, reducing the lake's volume greatly. Ash's plan had worked; despite injuring Charizard, Gyarados was now revealed in a very thin layer of water. Charizard huffed angrily at his trainer for getting him so wet, but dismissed the thought in favour of the battle.

"Yes," Ash quietly cheered. He was cut short, however, by laughter from the other trainer. He glanced across the remains of the battered battlefield, and saw Green laughing hysterically, clutching his sides in a vain attempt to end the pain in his stomach.

"Y-you do realise that we-we're in the middle of a-a downpour right?" he laughed, confusing Ash. The raven haired trainer turned back to the battlefield, and to his horror saw the lake already filling back up with water!

"Grr, I need to do something about the rain!" he growled angrily. Charizard sighed; he got even wetter than he already was for nothing. Green finally composed himself, managing to stand up straight, still with a smile on his face.

"Our turn. Gyarados use waterfall," he commanded. Gyarados rose to the surface of the water, and his ascent didn't end there. A pillar of water rose high into the sky as Gyarados surfed the gravity defying water. Picking up speed and height, Gyarados charged at the airborne Charizard.

"Dodge!" Ash yelled desperately. Charizard flapped his wings harder, climbing higher into the wet sky as the powerful attack passed the area of the sky where the fire type had just been. That was too close. Ash scanned the battlefield, desperately trying to spot something that would turn the tides of the battle, quite literally. He had to get rid of the water if he had any chance of winning. If only it wasn't raining…

'_That's it!'_ he had to get rid of the rain!

"Charizard fly up higher than the rain. Blow the clouds away with wing attack!" He yelled, making his voice heard through the torrential rain. Charizard nodded and flew higher, trusting his trainers attack. He flew as high as he could bear to go, struggling to breathe due to lack of oxygen from the extreme altitude. The high relief was chilling the fire type to the very core. But he remained composed, determined to prove that he could beat this Gyarados, even with an extreme type disadvantage. He flapped his wings hard, aiming them at the clouds below. The clouds began to swirl around in the same direction of the forced wind being emitted by Charizards wings. Slowly, the clouds began to drift south, carrying the rain with them. Sighing in relief, Charizard flew down to the now dry battlefield, relieved that he could now breathe properly…not to mention that he wasn't getting wet anymore. Green, on the other hand, looked speechless.

"Wha-how-why-EH?!" he screeched, amazed that his rain dance had been disposed of. Ash had finally gained control of the battle. Ash chuckled darkly, a plan to win finally formulating in his mind.

"Charizard blast the water with Overheat, followed by heat wave! Keep the temperature up as high as possible!" he ordered. Charizard nodded, glad he would be raising the heat; he was still chilly from the extreme altitude he had to endure. Charging up the extremely powerful attack, he fired. The jet of white hot fire slammed into the water, and immediately a thick veil of steam covered the battlefield. This didn't stop the fire type, as he exerted as much energy as he dared in the form of a heat wave, which kept the temperature at extremely high levels. Through the steam, both trainers could hear the tell tale signs of water at boiling point, as Gyarados was roaring in agony at the extreme temperature. The atrocious Pokémon was literally being cooked alive!

"Gyarados use Hydro pump on the water to lower the temperature!" Green yelled desperately. After a few seconds of silence, Green began to panic. It shouldn't take this long to charge a Hydro pump.

"Clear the steam," Ash said coolly. Charizard flapped his wings, blowing the cloud of steam away from the battlefield. When visibility was regained, both trainers spotted the atrocious Pokémon, lying face up on the surface of the still bubbling water, despite their only being a thin layer of water lying at the bottom of the crater; the rest had evaporated. Charizard flew proudly back to Ash, who gave him a complimentary pat on the back.

"Good work," Ash said, before returning the exhausted Pokémon back to its ball. Across the other side of the battlefield, Green returned his defeated Gyarados, sighing whilst doing so.

"You fought well, take a long rest," he said to the ball before pocketing it. He turned to face his opponent on the other side of what remained of the battlefield.

"I must say Ash that was very impressive. I know when I've been beat. But, it's not over yet," he conceded, pulling out another pokeball and enlarging it. Ash nodded, turning to Gabite who was stood behind him.

"Ready?" he asked. Gabite nodded, walking onto the battlefield, a proud glint in his eyes. Green smiled; _'this is going to be a good battle.'_

"Go Machamp!" he yelled, throwing the pokeball onto the battlefield. Snapping open, the pokeball revealed a tall, human like figure with huge muscles adorning every inch of its body. The most eye-catching feature of the grey humanoid Pokémon was its four arms, two extending from either shoulder.

"Champ!" It yelled, before flashing a toothy grin at Gabite, flexing its enormous muscles. Gabite glared back at the flashy Pokémon; he was going to enjoy wiping that stupid grin off the muscle-heads face.

"Gabite use Draco meteor," Ash ordered, confident of a one-hit KO, even if it was against Green. Gabite smirked, before charging up the attack. Its whole body began glowing brilliant amber, as the energy was focused into one huge blast, manifesting in Gabite's throat. With a grunt, Gabite fired the orb of draconic energy directly upwards. When it reached its peak height, the orb crumbled into many meteors, which rained down on the battlefield.

"Machamp use Karate chop," Green said calmly. Machamp's fists began glowing white as the flow of energy was redirected into the two appendages. Concentrating, Machamp leapt high into the air, swinging his glowing fists at any incoming meteors. To Ash and Gabite's astonishment, Machamp cut clean through the entire attack, slicing away at meteors as if they were measly bugs. The meteors crashed harmlessly into the crater of a battlefield below, and Machamp landed on the edge of the enormous hole, not even the faintest trace of fatigue adorning its smirking face.

"Gabite use dragon pulse!" Ash yelled, getting frustrated that his attacks were being so easily countered. Gabite charged up the green ball of draconic energy between its claws, before expelling it, sending it tearing through the sky towards Machamp.

"Cross chop," Green said. Machamp's fists began glowing the same colour white, as he charged up the powerful fighting type move. When the dragon pulse was in range, he slammed both fists into the ball, creating an 'x' shape with its hands as it sliced through the powerful dragon energy. Ash growled at Green; he was really good. He'd need a lot more power if he was going to win this.

"Dynamic punch," Green ordered, snapping Ash out of his thoughts. Machamp's fists retained their white glow, as he charged towards Gabite, leaping across the jagged terrain of the huge crater-like battlefield with ease.

"Dodge it!" Ash yelled frantically. Gabite nodded, leaping high into the air in hopes that he would escape the powerful wall of muscle below. Luck didn't seem to want to cooperate, as Machamp leapt even higher than Gabite, casting a shadow on the dragon Pokémon. With a smirk, Machamp slammed a fist into the helpless land shark's face, slamming him down to the ground below. A plume of dust rose into the sky, as Machamp gracefully landed at the edge of the crater, looking into the cloud of dust for any sign of its opponent.

"Gabite!" Ash shouted, hoping that the dragon would emerge unscathed. Several seconds passed, and no movement what-so-ever from the cloud of dust. Ash was about to give up hope, when astonishingly, a green glow began to tear through the dust. The raven haired trainer strained his eyes, desperately scanning the slowly dissipating cloud of dust, when suddenly, Gabite charged out, a green glow accompanying him along the way as he tore a path through the air towards a startled Machamp. With a loud explosion, contact was made, and Gabite slammed into the wall of muscle.

"What was that?" Ash asked incredulously, amazed at the sheer power being displayed by the two combatants, more specifically Gabite.

'_That was an extremely powerful dragon type move called dragon rush. Your Gabite has grown exceptionally well in the short time you've been training,'_ Mewtwo informed telepathically. Ash turned back to the battlefield, where the smoke from the attack was clearing, revealing both Pokémon to be worn out, cuts and bruises lining their bodies as they gasped for breath. Gabite was running out of energy.

…'Energy? Yes!' Ash thought, once again thinking of a plan to turn the tides of the battle.

"Gabite, charge up a dragon pulse, but don't fire," he ordered, confusing everyone except the raven haired trainer himself.

"Trust me," he added, realising how ludicrous he sounded in ordering a Pokémon to charge up a powerful attack, but not fire it. Shrugging, Gabite used the remainder of its strength to charge up the attack. At the point it would normally be fired, he held it between his claws.

"Eat it!" Ash ordered; Green, Machamp, Gabite and Latias sweat-dropped. Shrugging again, Gabite swallowed the attack whole. Suddenly, a powerful burst of energy crackled throughout the dragons body, invigorating the Pokémon. Its claws elongated to twice their normal length, and his teeth became sharper. A green aura materialised, enveloping the rejuvenated dragon in a draconic green glow. Green watched on in astonishment, not knowing that an attack could be used like that. Ash truly was a superb trainer.

"Wow. Machamp, we'd better end this. Dynamic punch, go!" he ordered, getting over his astonishment. Machamp gathered some of the dwindling energy he had stored, channelling it through to his fist, giving it a white glow. With surprising speed for such a tired Pokémon, he charged at Gabite, who was now looking more dangerous than ever.

"Wait for it…Wait for it…Dragon claw!" Ash yelled, just as Machamp was about to strike. As fast as lightning, Gabite spun around, narrowly dodging the fast flying fist, and in one fluid motion, slammed his claw into the side of the muscle wall; the attack already being charged thanks to the power-up. Both Pokémon stood, backs to each other, until fatigue finally enveloped the poor Pokémon; Machamp collapsed on the ground, sliding down the steep slope of the crater. Green sighed, pulling out his pokeball and returning the fallen Pokémon, uttering thanks as he pocketed the now full ball.

"Well Ash, you won. Congratulations," Green announced a tone of sadness in his voice; he hated lying, but he had no other choice. He wasn't going to let his best friend be hurt any more than he already had been. He turned around and walked off, as if nothing had even happened. Ash watched his retreating figure, as the proud land shark returned to Ash, the green glow beginning to fade and his claws and teeth returned to their normal length. Latias ran up to Ash and hugged him from behind, glad her trainer had won.

"You did great Gabite, thanks," Ash muttered as he pulled out Gabite's pokeball as Latias released him from the hug. Gabite smiled, before a blinding white glow enveloped the small Pokémon. Ash stepped back, shielding his eyes, with Latias doing the same; her human form eyes were really sensitive. The dragon began to grow; until he was triple the height of its trainer, and its claws grew longer. All of its features were enhanced, growing longer and stronger. When the light died down, Ash stared at the dragon in amazement, whilst Latias was giggling happily; something she hadn't done in a very long time.

"Garchomp!" It shrieked, brandishing its claws in front of him in a display of sheer power.

"Y-you evolved? How?" Ash asked, amazed that he evolved so quick, with so little training. Before he could get a response from anyone though, a voice interrupted them.

"We leave you alone for two days and you do this?" a boy chuckled. Ash spun around, meeting the eyes of the blue haired coordinator and the brown haired scientist. His jaw dropped, as the two approached. Gary was the first one to speak.

"Hey there Ashy-boy. Glad to see us so soon?"

* * *

**Omegaxis1 helped out with the "power-up" for Gabite. Thank you very much for the idea. If you have a minute, be sure to check out their profile. **

**I want to first start with something I think is incredible. Drum roll please. Red, d'you want to announce the news?**

**Red:...**

**Couldn't have put it better myself. Like Red just said, this chapter is the official mark of 50,000 words! Holy Miltank! When I first started this fic, I was expecting it to last anywhere between 10,000 and 20,000 words, but I never expected in my wildest dreams that I'd reach 50,000 words and still going strong! Thank you to everyone who's read, reviewed, recommended, Favorited this fic. Thank you so much! *cries with happiness*...cheesy speech over, let's continue as to why I uploaded this a week early.**

**So I felt guilty with leaving you a short update last week, so I uploaded this week. Consider this a "Part 2" to the last chapter. **

**The next update will be on the 21/12/12 (a.k.a next Friday). The reason I'm not uploading per two weeks now is because I haven't a clue how much free time I will have in January. I just got my exam timetable and I have 6 exams to sit in January, as well as 2 pieces of coursework. I'm going to be spending pretty much every minute of free time revising, so I can't guarantee a regular update. Do not fear, I will not go on Hiatus and will find a way to write and upload new chapters; I just can't guarantee that they will be very frequent. Once January is out of the way, it will be back to the regular updating schedule. **

**Also, since it's Christmas soon, I'm going to be spending time with the relatives, so I can't guarantee an update on the 28th either. There will definitely be an update on the 4th January, so there are two dates to add to your calendar xD**

**Now, onto the chapter. I felt as if I owed you an extra special chapter to make up for the short one last week (happy now EliteLuther?) so I tried my hand at writing a full battle chapter...well, not full as in 6v6, but as in the whole chapter was a gigantic battle. I had a lot of fun writing this, but when it came to writing about Gabite and Machamp, I was struggling to think of ideas. There's not much you can do when you're fighting in a giant crater xD**

**Green has left...for now. When will he return? Only I know! **

**Gary and Dawn have appeared again. What're they going to do to convince Ash to end his vengeful path?**

**Who was in the hall of origin in the previous chapter? Don't worry, I haven't forgotten. You'll just have to wait until I write about it!**

**Is this all just a series of coincidences, or is Chessmaster Red (as Remnants of Serenity puts it) playing the characters like pawns? **

**Anyway, it's time for me to make my leave. And what better way to leave, than with a happy dance! (Pay no attention to Remnants of serenity, Happy dancing is awesome!) **

**Review please! Cya!**


	15. The Brother

**Hey guys and gals, it's me! Yeah, you'll probably notice that I changed my name. I did this because FanFiction hated my old name and whenever someone tried to type it out it came out as XxL...I don't know about you, but being called xxl is slightly insulting, so that's why I decided to change. This is a one-time thing, and I won't be regularly changing my name. Now onto the fic, this is really just a short update, I'll explain why at the bottom *braces for flames* As usual, thanks goes to Remnants of Serenity, Bluedog270, Kimmy-1016, HollowKU and EliteLuther. Thanks everyone! Also, I've hadd a recommendation to change the name of this fic, I'll talk about that in more detail at the bottom A/N. In the meantime, R&R! It would be a great christmas present!**

* * *

"G-Gary? Dawn?" Ash spluttered, shocked that his friends had found him already.

"Don't sound too shocked, d'you think that you could get rid of us so easily?" Gary smirked. Dawn stepped closer to Ash, who had finally shut his gaping mouth.

"Ash, we're your friends, we want to help you. I know it's difficult but we're here to help you," she said sweetly. Ash looked down at the cracked floor of the earth, mixed feelings clouding his mind. He glanced over at Latias, who was looking sympathetic towards him. He looked back at his friends, who shared the same sympathetic look as Latias.

"Ash, come home. Everyone is worried about you. We know you're in pain, but we can help if you just come with us," Dawn spoke softly, hoping to convince the trainer. Ash returned his gaze to the ground below, vengeance in his mind, sadness in his throat, hurt in his heart.

"What do you hope to do gathering a team of powerful Pokémon?" Gary asked, wanting to further convince him to return home. Ash looked at him incredulously; '_how did he know about my team?'_ he returned his gaze to the floor, when Latias came up to him, hugging the trainer from behind, resting her head on his shoulder. Ash didn't seem to notice as he thought through his choices. Should he continue his revenge? Should he return home?

"Come home Ash," Dawn said soothingly. Ash began shaking, and Latias let him go, staring confused at her trainer. Ash looked back up at his equally confused friends and did the only thing he could do.

He ran.

He ran as fast as he could, away from the valley, away from the scarred battlefield, away from his friends. Dawn stared sadly at his retreating figure. They were so close, she knew Ash was contemplating returning home with them. Gary gripped Dawn's shoulder, catching her attention, before mouthing "Let's go." The two walked off sadly, leaving Latias and Garchomp alone. Latias' eyes began to water, as she watched her friend run away in so much pain. She wanted to go after him, but she didn't want to drive him further away. She waited there, watching him retreating into a mere dot on the setting sun. Garchomp sat down, not really knowing much about what was going on.

On the road opposite to where Ash was running, Dawn and Gary were walking slowly, in silence, until Dawn broke the silence.

"Why aren't we going after Ash? We came all this way just to let him run off?" she queried, slightly frustrated that they weren't doing anything to help the boy.

"Ash needs time to think. In the meantime, we have somewhere else to go. And he might be able to shed some light on what's really going on," Gary said simply, as he continued to walking. If what Grandpa said was true, then they had to be quick if they wanted to catch him before he disappeared again.

"Who are we going to see?" Dawn asked. Gary remained silent, contemplating their options and ignoring Dawn's question. The coordinator sighed, fed up of having no answers to the many questions circling around her head. She continued to follow the scientist, who was deep in his own thoughts and questions. They had to find him, if they wanted to shed any light on Ash's situation. _'Be ready bro, I'm coming for you.'_

* * *

High atop the mountain, the powerful trainer watched the scene unfold within the valley. He witnessed the battle between Ash and Green, the encounter with Dawn and Gary, and Ash running off, leaving behind that strange girl and his Garchomp. He looked at his psychic type, silently ordering it to cease its telepathy, cancelling the vision of the valley. The golden rocky valley transformed into a vicious mountain, a howling wind ripping through the thick snow pouring onto the harsh environment.

Ash's Pokémon have grown tremendously in power, a brilliant, yet frightening thought. He had to convince Ash to stop this petty game of revenge, and he still had a few tricks up his sleeve. He launched a pokeball into the snow below him. The ball snapped open with a loud pop, and the figure of his enormous Charizard appeared. After dropping Green off at the valley, Charizard had returned to its trainer. The fire type stared into its trainer's eyes, before nodding. Beating its huge wings, it took flight, vanishing almost immediately into the howling blizzard circling the vicious mountain. A loud roar was the last indication of the beast's presence on the mountain, before he went off to complete his masters' task.

The trainer turned back to his Espeon, as the psychic type's eyes began glowing a faint blue. The mountain suddenly vanished, being replaced by a very messy laboratory. He saw a grey haired man clad in a scientists coat rushing around, carrying out research on various different things. Professor Oak had no idea that he was about to get a very large blast from the past.

* * *

Ash returned to the newly formed crater, his head held low from a confusing mixture of feelings. He was caught off-guard however, as the disguised dragoness tackled him in a bone-crushing hug, sobbing lightly. It had been a few hours since the raven haired trainer had run off, and the sun had almost finished setting below the rocky valley they were in, casting a golden shadow across the vast landscape. Latias had grown increasingly worried about her trainer's well-being, hoping to Arceus that he would return safely.

Her prayers were answered as Ash wandered back to the scarred battlefield. She was staining his blue jumper a very darker shade of blue through the tears pouring down from her amber eyes. Ash didn't know what to do. He felt compelled to comfort her, but before he could make a move, Latias broke the hug, and a hand flashed across his cheek, sending pain through his nerves at the stinging sensation.

"Latias! That hurt!" Ash yelled, rubbing his cheek, but Latias hugged him again, confusing the boy even more. After a few moments, she pulled back, staring into her trainers' auburn eyes as she began to transmit her feelings of sadness, anger, and strangely enough, frustration. Was she frustrated at herself for letting him go like that?

"Sorry Latias, but I had to think. Where are Dawn and Gary?" he asked, glancing around and noting the absence of his two friends. Latias shrugged, not knowing where they went. Ash noticed Garchomp snoring lightly as he lay on the floor in slumber. Ash pulled out his pokeball and returned the tired dragon type, allowing him time to rest from the tiring day they'd had. He was still confused as to how Garchomp evolved so quickly, and made a mental note to ask Mewtwo later.

Come on Latias, we need to get to viridian forest," he said, releasing Charizard. The fire type roared, feeling much better after the long rest. Ash climbed onto Charizards back and at her trainers command, Latias transformed into her true form, before turning invisible.

"Charizard, take us to Viridian forest," he commanded. Charizard flapped his wings, taking flight, before heading in the direction of the forest. It would be some time before they would reach their destination, giving Ash plenty of time to formulate a winning strategy. His revenge would continue, for the sake of his deceased partner, and nobody would stop him.

* * *

"Gary, where are we going?" Dawn whined for the tenth time in the past half hour. Gary sighed, turning to face her whilst continuing to walk.

"Like I told you a few minutes ago, we need to go and find someone. He'll know why Ash is acting like this," he said, irritated about having to answer the question over and over again.

"And who exactly are we seeing?" she asked, huffing slightly at the lack of information. Gary shook his head.

"You'll find out soon enough. According to gramps, he should be at the Charicific valley," he informed. The hill they were climbing steepened, and as they continued walking, Gary could spot the iconic landmark of the valley looming out from behind the rocky slope; the mountain shaped like a Charizard was the well-known site of the Charicific valley. Only the best Charizards made it into the valley, and after several months of brutal training, they could come out of the valley and challenge Ho-oh herself to a showdown.

"We're here," he said, nudging Dawn's side. The blunette raised her head, spying the valley and immediately her mouth dropped, letting gravity control her jaw. This was understandable, a mountain shaped like a giant Charizard would amaze Arceus itself, and it shaped the entire world.

"Wo-Wow!" she breathed. Gary chuckled, he hadn't ever been to the valley, yet he knew it like the back of his hand from all of his research with his grandpa.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Gary asked; a hint of smugness in his voice. Dawn nodded dumbly, her jaw still in the tight grip of gravity. Gary continued walking to the elegantly crafted wooden doors of the valley, a dumbfound Dawn in his wake.

"Come on, according to gramps, he should be here," he muttered as they continued walking towards the stronghold. Dawn was still too amazed at the aesthetic beauty of the natural world to reply, so she merely continued to follow the budding scientist.

As they approached the giant wooden doors, they began to slowly creak open, revealing a blue haired woman with a Charizard behind her. Gary noticed the pink bow adjourning the beast, and couldn't help but give a small chuckle at the sight of one of the strongest fire-types known wearing a bright pink bow. Liza stood next to the two, smiling kindly.

"Welcome to the Charicific valle-wait, don't I know you?" she asked, staring intently at the brown haired boy. Gary nodded, confirming her accusation.

"Yeah, I called to inquire about my friend Ash," he clarified. Liza nodded, smiling.

"Well, Ash left a while ago, is there anything-"

"Actually, we're not here about Ash, we're here about someone else. We were told that we could find him here," he said, cutting off Liza. She stared confusedly at Gary.

"Oh, ok. Who are you looking for?" she asked kindly. Gary thought for a second, debating silently whether he should reveal the name he was looking for, or whether to just find a description. After several seconds, he made up his mind; what he said made Dawn literally choke on air, and even surprise Liza a little.

"I'm looking for my brother. You might know him as Green."

* * *

Green walked out of the cave, and into the howling dark flurry of snow whipping around the treacherous mountain. How did his friend live up here for so long? He continued his path, out of the protection of the cave; after the battle with Ash, he had Alakazam teleport him back to Mt. Silver, where he was sure his friend was waiting for an update. He continued his path through the torrent of snow, fighting against the viciously cold flakes, until at last he caught a glimpse of red; a jacket billowing wildly in the wind. Shielding his eyes, he pressed on further, approaching his friend and standing next to him.

"I take it you saw what happened between me and Ash?" he asked. The other trainer gave a silent nod, confirming his question. Green sighed, knowing exactly what his quiet friend was thinking.

"Okay, Ash is a strong trainer, but why are you going through all this trouble just to keep him away? More specifically, why are you making ME go through all this trouble?" he asked, demanding answers. The trainer in red remained silent, observing the flurry of snow whipping through the mountain range below.

"Why not just beat him and be done with it? You're strong enough to take on anyone. Hell, you could probably take on Arceus itself," Green continued. The other trainer, as usual, remained silent. Green sighed once more, shivering as the bitter chill of the mountain began to invade his body.

"Ok, what do you want me to do now? Ash has already proven to be too good for me to beat, so what else can I do?" he asked, frustrated at his friends' refusal to talk. The other trainer thought for a moment, before pulling out a pokeball from his pocket. Wordlessly, he tossed it onto the ground, revealing the psychic type, Espeon. He stared into the purple Pokémon's eyes, communicating silently with it, before Espeon's eyes began to glow. The mountain suddenly vanished, and they were suddenly soaring through the clouds as Espeon's psychic abilities transmitted Charizards point of view. The sudden change in scenery startled Green a little, but he remained composed.

They watched intently as Charizard approached a small town, heading in the direction of what seemed like a small windmill. Both trainers knew instantly where Charizard was, however, only one of them knew why he was there. Green stared confusedly as Charizard approached his grandfather's old laboratory atop a perfect green hill. With a light thud, the fire type landed at the top of the long winding staircase leading up to the lab, sending a small cloud of dust to rocket into the air.

Suddenly, the scene evaporated into ripples in the fabric of space, as Espeon's psychic abilities ended, and the vicious mountain reappeared to both trainers.

"Why is Charizard going to grandpas?" Green asked, still confused as to what his friend could want with his grandfather. As usual, the other trainer remained silent, as he returned the psychic type back to its ball. Green sighed in frustration, before turning and walking away, heading back for the cave mouth leading into the perilous mountain. He had to teleport to Pallet town, but couldn't do it in the middle of a snow storm. It would be just his luck that Alakazam would teleport the snow and leave a piece of Green behind. Shuddering at the thought, he continued his pursuit of the cave. Hopefully, he could reach his grandpa before Charizard dragged him off to wherever its trainer had ordered.

After Green had disappeared in the concealing snow clouds, the remaining trainer sighed silently. He wanted to know if he really was doing the right thing, letting others do his dirty work. Should he do as Green suggested and beat Ash in a battle? No. As far as he could gather, Ash was looking for revenge, and beating him yet again will only worsen the problem. If he truly wanted to help Ash, he had to keep his distance…

For now…

* * *

The moonlight echoed across the landscape, casting a haunting glow on the gentle swaying trees lining the famous forest. After several hours of extremely tiring flight, Ash had finally arrived at Viridian forest, home to his next Pokémon for his "All star team."

He scanned the suffocating blackness of the foliage, feeling strangely at peace within the happy, gentle atmosphere of the forest. Latias shuffled closer to Ash, not wanting to get lost. At her trainer's command, she had transformed into her Bianca disguise when they touched down on the edge of the forest.

Wandering blindly about, Ash and Latias pressed further on into the forest, Ash trying to remember where he left her, and Latias not veering from her trainer. The sounds of Pokémon echoed through the silent night, as they slept happily and peacefully, unaware of the two intruders. Straining his eyes, Ash continued, determined to find the Pokémon he was looking for. In hindsight, it would've probably been better if Ash had waited until morning to find her, but as usual, the headstrong boy didn't think things through too well.

A squak caught the boy's attention, as he scanned the dark trees. The shrubbery began rustling all around them, and a shadow could be seen moving from tree to tree. Latias instinctively held onto her trainer, fear of whatever creature was stalking them. The thing came closer and closer, but Ash didn't seem too bothered. He smiled gently, something very unusual for the boy's newly formed cold exterior. He walked forward, startling Latias, until he reached the shrubbery. He glanced up at the sky, scanning the boundless night for any sign of his long time friend, but he couldn't find any.

He was about to walk back to Latias, when suddenly, a dark shadow leapt across the sky, blocking out the moon's gentle glow and casting a shadow on the trainer. The thing flew closer to the boy, on a path directly towards him. At the speed it was going, it would crash straight into Ash!

Latias ran towards her trainer, transforming into her true form in the process; she wouldn't let anyone harm Ash! The eon dragon flew in front of her trainer, acting as a shield against the shadow fast approaching. But Ash merely laid a hand on the dragons shoulder, shaking his head and smiling slightly. Latias backed down, transforming back into her human-guise whilst keeping a watchful eye on the shadow.

Closer and closer it came, and a gentle flapping noise could be heard; whatever it was, it had wings. It flew closer and closer, and from the dim glow of the moonlight, Latias could pick out a vibrant plume of feathers emanating from the shadows creamy brown coloured back. Who was this newcomer?

* * *

**To start, I want to apologise for releasing such a short update, but I've been really strapped for writing time recently. I also wanted to end this chapter without revealing who Ash's next pokemon is, but I also wanted to drop plenty of hints to who it is. I'm pretty sure you'll be able to guess.**

**Now onto the name change. A suggestion by Remnants of Serenity leads me to believe that this fic is due for a name change, and I have a few suggestions:**

**Revengeance;**

**Avenging a Friend;**

**Lost Hatred;**

**Down the Wrong Road.**

**These are some suggestions I've had. Like my pen name, this fic won't keep changing names (it might not even change at all). Make your voice heard; tell me what you think would be a good name, or whether you think I should keep Clash with a titan. You can leave a review, PM me or vote in the poll on my profile, I'm open to any suggestions you have :)**

**Now, onto the fic. I think I established that Ash's 5th pokemon is a flying type...But who? I'm pretty sure you can have a very good guess as to who it is.**

**And Green and Gary are brothers?! Yeah, I'm mixing the games and the anime, so some aspects of the story will be improvised, like this. Ash and Red ARE NOT related in any way. **

**This was a short update and I apologise. To me, this is more of a filler chapter. I will be writing a christmas fic which should be uploaded in the next week or so, so be sure to keep an eye on my profile and add me to your alerts! **

**Now the next update probably won't be until January, but you won't be disappointed, I promise! I may be able to upload earlier than that, but no matter what, it will be on a Friday. That I can guarantee. I'll do my best to make up for this short filler chapter!**

**And finally, I say my goodbye. Have a very merry christmas and happy holidays (depending on what you celebrate). **

**Cya!**

**Trainer Theta**


	16. The Prophecy

**I am really really really really really really x10 sorry for the shortness of this chapter, and for the lack of a christmas special I was supposed to be doing. I've had the unfortunate luck of falling ill over the christmas week, and I've been bed bound for the past two weeks and unable to type. As soon as I could I dragged myself to my keyboard and typed this, being my priority. I will be releasing a christmas special, it will just be a little...late. I will try and get it done as soon as possible. Anyway, hope you had a merry christmas and a happy new year. R&R :)**

* * *

"Pidgeot!" Ash exclaimed as he hugged his feathered friend for the first time in years. Pidgeot squawked in delight at the reunion, pecking her trainer gently on the cheek with her sharp beak. Latias watched the scene happily, seeing Ash interact with his long time friend so kindly and completely unlike the 'new' Ash; the scene brought hope to her of the trainers' old self returning. Ash chuckled at the tickling sensation of feathers against his cheek, patting Pidgeot gently on the neck in an attempt to free himself from the loving grip of the bird Pokémon. After staggering to his feet, he shuffled awkwardly, kicking one foot against the ground nervously as he prepared his speech.

"Hey Pidgeot, I'm sorry I didn't come and get you for so long," he muttered, looking down at his feet nervously. Pidgeot wrapper her enormous wings around Ash, pulling him into a tight hug as she happily nuzzled her beak against his face lovingly. Ash chuckled again.

"Heh, I guess I'm already forgiven. Is that right Pidgeot?" he asked. The bird gave a happy nod, before backing off and folding her wings; she had just noticed Latias standing there watching the whole scene, so awaited Ash's explanation patiently. Ash, getting the message, began his introductions.

"Pidgeot, I want you to meet Latias. Latias meet Pidgeot," he said. At the revelation of Latias' name, Pidgeot was startled and looked confusedly towards the girl. Latias gave a shy smile, before a blue light enveloped her, illuminating the forest in an eerie blue glow. Once the transformation was complete, the dragoness floated there, smiling happily at the stunned bird Pokémon. After recovering from the initial shock, Pidgeot bowed her head, kneeling low onto the ground in a display of respect; even if she was Ash's legendary, she was still a legendary and therefore must be respected.

Latias cooed, slightly embarrassed at Pidgeot's actions, and was relieved when she saw the bird lift her head from the ground. Pidgeot still had questions though, and the flying type turned back to her trainer. Extending her wing, she pointed at Ash's shoulder with a look of confusion on her face; where was Pikachu? He always sat on Ash's shoulder, so where was he?

Ash realised what the flying type was asking, and immediately a dark shadow spread across the young boy's face at the painful memory surfacing once again. Latias nuzzled Pidgeot's side gently, gaining her attention. Sadly, the dragoness shook her head; whatever happened, it was still too painful for Ash to talk about, so Pidgeot would have to remain silent about the subject…for now.

"Pidgeot, how much stronger have you grown?" Ash asked, changing the subject. Pidgeot raised her huge wings as she reared into combat stance. She squawked threateningly at Ash, smirking at him. If Ash wanted to see just how much she's grown, then he'd have to fight her.

Understanding this, Ash backed off, pulling out a pokeball from his belt. He threw the ball on the ground, and the area was suddenly lit up with a bright orange flame as Charizard burst from the ball; his tail illuminating the blackened sky. When Charizard saw his opponent, he smirked. It had been a while since he'd seen Pidgeot; this was going to be fun. He roared, sending a column of flames up into the sky, announcing his presence to the forest and its inhabitants.

Pidgeot squawked loudly, in competition with the fire type, and flapped her enormous wings threateningly; Charizard was in for the fight of his life. All her years in the forest had not been wasted. After a year or so, her flock became strong enough to defend itself, so Pidgeot dedicated every second of every day training, waiting the day her trainer came back. Several years later and here he was.

"Charizard, we'll start things off with flamethrower," Ash said calmly. Charizard roared, expelling a torrent of red hot flames that tore through the darkness straight towards Pidgeot. The bird Pokémon remained calm, however as she waited for the column of fire to get closer. When the flames were just beginning to lap her feathers, she swung her wings in front of her face as they hardened to steel-like properties. The metallic wings dispelled the flames around Pidgeot, safely reducing the fire to embers that washed over the bird Pokémon. After a few seconds, Charizard let up the attack, and Pidgeot revealed herself, completely unharmed and standing proudly.

"Charizard, let's show her our steel wing," Ash said, impressed by Pidgeot's display of endurance. Charizard roared once again as he hardened his massive wings, giving them a metallic glow amidst the flickering orange of the fire from his tail. With a mighty huff, he set off at speed through the sky, flying directly at Pidgeot. The bird Pokémon stood there, watching Charizards movements intently, before flapping her wings powerfully, launching two scythes of compressed air straight towards the speeding bullet of power flying straight towards her. Charizard was going far too fast to try and dodge, and the attack would hit any second.

"Flamethrower and keep going as fast as you can with the steel wing still active," Ash ordered, once again thinking outside the box. Charizard opened his mouth and spewed out a torrent of flames, but because of the speed he was going, the flames covered his entire body, transforming the Pokémon into a fireball which sped towards the incoming air slash. Closer the two attacks came, until they collided, sending an explosion rocketing through the sky. Unfortunately for Pidgeot, Charizard had extra power due to his speed, flamethrower and steel wing. Clearly he had been practicing his multitasking. Charizard rocketed out of the cloud of dust and debris, continuing his path towards a startled Pidgeot, and with a mighty roar, slammed his wings into the side of the unfortunate bird Pokémon and knocking her to the side.

This was Ash's chance.

Grabbing an empty ball from his belt, Ash threw the empty pokeball towards the downed Pidgeot, and with a small pop, the ball made contact with Pidgeot's head and snapped open, swallowing the bird Pokémon in a beam of crimson red light. The ball shook once, twice, three times before it finally came to a halt, and a small ping could be heard echoing through the forest. Ash walked over and retrieved the ball, smiling at the red and white capsule. He'd just caught a Pidgeot, and not just any Pidgeot. Ash's Pidgeot had clearly dedicated most of her time training; just what Ash wanted. He returned a panting Charizard to its ball and walked over to Latias, who was smiling warmly towards Ash, silently congratulating him on his capture.

"One more to go," he muttered. Latias nodded, knowing Ash's plan by now. One night when she couldn't sleep, she read Ash's mind for answers, and discovered his terrible plan for revenge. She hadn't said anything to Ash about knowing, but he had his suspicions. She didn't know who their last target was however; she hadn't had the chance to find out since Ash woke up. For now, she'd have to go along with his plan.

From his belt, Pidgeot exploded from her pokeball and squawked happily, pointing her wing to the sky before flapping them elegantly. Ash watched her, wondering what she wanted, until realisation hit him; he'd been away from Pidgeot for so long, all she wants to do is spend time with him. Ash smiled at Pidgeot, who had stopped her charades.

"Do you want to fly me to my next destination Pidgeot?" he asked kindly. Pidgeot responded with a hasty nod of her head, causing Latias to giggle at the sight. Ash nodded, before glancing up at the sky; it was still dark, and they hadn't had any rest since they were at the valley.

"Ok Pidgeot, we leave tomorrow. Let's camp out here tonight," he explained as he swung his pack off his shoulder and pulled out his sleeping bag; they could all do with a well deserved rest.

* * *

In the quiet town of Pallet, the senior professor of Pokémon was about to get one of the biggest shocks of his life…And that's saying something after all the years the professor spent caring for Ash's many Pokémon. As usual, the professor was frantically running around his lab, completing various research tasks about his newest topic of study; legendary Pokémon. Irritatingly, a knock at the door shattered his concentration on his work. Huffing, he walked over to the door through a very messy laboratory.

"Who is it?" he asked as he approached the old wooden door; it was late at night and someone was visiting him? It was only natural for him to be a little suspicious. He was right to be suspicious, as his response was a brief roar and a flash of light from the opposite side of the rickety old door. Frowning, the professor unlocked the door and swung it open…and his stomach leapt into his throat in the process. Standing on the steps to his house was a very large, very agitated Charizard. Immediately the professor could tell it was extremely well trained, yet the Charizard seemed so familiar…

Without warning, the Charizard grabbed the professor's lab coat in his claws, before flapping his giant wings and taking flight; the professor dangling precariously within the beasts claws. Oak let out a shriek of terror as the ground rushed away from him. The professor had just been abducted by a Charizard late at night, and there was nothing he could do except to wait until Charizard had delivered him to his location. Still shrieking, Charizard carried the professor high into the clouds as he made his way towards Mt. Silver. Professor Oak had no idea where he was being taken, or for what purpose, but he did know this, and it was nagging at him constantly ever since he laid his withered old eyes upon the professor-napper; he knew this Charizard, but why?

* * *

"Ok Gary, I want answers," Dawn said, standing in front of the tired trainee professor. Gary sighed, understanding Dawn's request for answers. No, not request, something in the coordinators eyes made it blatantly obvious to the spiky haired boy that she wasn't requesting answers; she was demanding answers.

"Ok but listen carefully. I'm not repeating myself," he replied. Dawn nodded, waiting patiently for the scientist to begin. Gary eyed her for a second, deciding the best place to start his long explanation, before he finally began talking.

"Well, as you know by now, I have a brother. His name is Green Oak. He's older by 3 years, and he started out his Pokémon journey at the same age I did, with the sole goal to be the very best," he began, watching Dawn carefully to study her reaction to the news. Dawn however, sat there with a blank expression on her face, giving no emotions to Gary whatsoever. Sighing, Gary continued.

"About 2 years ago, we lost all contact with him. No phone numbers, no addresses, no anything. It was like he vanished. That is, until Gramps got a call from one of his students. He took on the viridian gym leader, and lost horribly, so he was calling gramps to see what he should do next. At this point in time, we thought the viridian gym still didn't have a leader, so grandpa made some inquiries, asking about the new leader," he explained, pausing to glance at Dawn's face, hoping for a reaction; there was none. Sighing once more, he continued.

"After several days of questioning, gramps finally stumbled across the leaders name…It was none other than Green, and he had grown a lot since the Kanto league ended and he placed second. He never did tell me the name of the trainer who won, but whoever it was must be the strongest trainer alive. He supposedly took out the entire elite four with only 4 Pokémon!" he said, reminiscing the moment when his brother had returned to pallet, defeated. He wouldn't reveal the name of the other trainer, but he said it was a close friend of his. Dawn still remained emotionless, hiding her feelings behind a blank and vacant look, but Gary knew she was listening to every word intently.

"Anyway, grandpa tried to contact Green, but he refused, and we lost contact with the viridian gym shortly afterwards. Green didn't want to talk to us for some reason. Anyway, a couple of days ago, Green called gramps up, asking about a certain trainer," he said, pausing after his explanation.

"Ash," Dawn said, filling in the gap. Gary nodded, confirming her accusation.

"He wanted to know everything about Ash. What Pokémon he caught and when, where he was, everything. But he wouldn't tell grandpa why he wanted all this info," he said glumly, feeling as left out as Dawn must've been feeling.

"So I thought that if he wanted information on Ash, he must be following him. When I found out Ash was in the Charicific valley, I thought Green had to be with him. So, here we are," he finished. Dawn nodded, still showing no emotion on her face. Gary glanced around the dimly lit room; after they found out Green had been at the valley, Liza let them both stay with her in her guest room for the night, and they would continue their hunt tomorrow. It really was getting late, and if they didn't sort out the sleeping arrangements soon, Gary was sure he'd collapse from exhaustion. There was only one double bed in the guest room, and he very much doubted that Dawn would be open to the idea of sharing.

"Okay, so why do you think he's after Ash?" Dawn asked, for the first time all night, her face was showing confusion as she asked this. Gary shook his head.

"I don't know…But I intend to find out," he muttered, loud enough for the coordinator to hear. The blunette gave a yawn, stretching her arms above her head.

"It's getting late, we should really get some sleep," she said tiredly. Gary nodded, staring at the bed again.

"I'll sleep on the floor, you can have the bed," he said, sitting down on the floor at the foot of the bed. He leaned back and used his arms as a pillow, when Dawn suddenly obstructed his vision as she leaned over him. Gary sat back up, confused.

"You will not sleep on the floor. Come on, we can share the bed. It's a double after all," she smiled, surprising Gary completely; he hadn't expected Dawn of all people to be so open to the idea. Nonetheless, he nodded, climbing into one side of the bed as Dawn lay down on the other side.

"Just stay on your side, and don't try anything funny," she giggled, giving the scientist a wink, before leaning across and turning off the lamp on her bedside table. Gary remained awake, staring at the coordinator lying peacefully. He smiled to himself.

"Goodnight Dawn. Sweet dreams," he uttered as his eyes began to close.

* * *

Deep within the hallowed halls of Origin, the alpha spoke to the lesser about his new life amongst the heavens.

"Welcome my child. I hope you enjoy it here within my hallowed halls. I do have some rules I wish to speak with you before you become too comfortable," it spoke clearly, yet powerfully. It was clear to anyone that this Pokémon was the dominant power of the whitewashed room.

Pikachu nodded, understanding just how important the next words uttered could be. After all, he hadn't a clue how he got here. One minute he was lying in a hospital bed, and the next he was here, in the hall of origin, in the presence of the creator.

"Whilst you are here, you may not contact the physical realm. Anything that you do within the physical realm could severely upset the balance of the universe, which is why I must ask you to look without touching," Arceus spoke calmly. Pikachu nodded, half understanding; _look without touching? What would he be looking at?_

"That will become clearer to you over time," the alpha spoke, shocking the electric type. Then again, Arceus was god, therefore must have the ability to read thoughts.

"Correct my child," Arceus chuckled, once again stunning the little mouse that his thoughts weren't as private as they were on Earth. That lead him to his next question; _where exactly was he?_

"This is the hall of Origin, your new home, and the home of any deceased Pokémon," the alpha answered. Pikachu thought this over for a second; he had heard about the hall of Origin from wild Pokémon he'd encountered…_wait, I'm dead?!_

"I am afraid so child. You died whilst in a hospital bed. Evidently, this experience has deeply traumatized your human friend," Arceus said, slightly saddened at having to be the bearer of bad news. The alpha turned its head to the side, and a light began to shine next to the two Pokémon. Slowly, the light developed a spectrum of vibrant colours, as an image appeared within the light. What Pikachu saw made his jaw drop instantly; he was looking at an image of his trainer, his friend, lying asleep in the middle of a forest, a strangely familiar girl asleep besides him.

"Whilst you are staying here, you may view any being from the physical realm, but you must not interact with them. Disobeying this order will result in your expulsion from the hall of Origin. I cannot risk the exposure of my hallowed halls to the physical realm, therefore must be kept a secret," the alpha told Pikachu, a very stern look etched onto the Pokémon's face as it spoke with an air of graveness present in its powerful voice. Pikachu reluctantly nodded, wishing so much to see his friend again, and to let him know he was safe.

"I am sorry, but I cannot allow that. You are free to view anyone within the physical realm at any time you wish, but you must not interact with them. I know just how much your human partner is grieving over his loss of you, and the course of action he has taken has proven distasteful to me, however, even I am forbidden to interfere with the physical world," Arceus said, trying to console the saddened electric type. Pikachu nodded glumly, staring at his feet.

"Over time, he will come to live with the pain of his loss, but a fateful encounter must occur first…and I fear that this specific encounter could potentially harm the fabric of the universe. I am afraid that your human friend will eventually face the most difficult test of his life; for he is about to have a clash with a titan, and the outcome will not be favourable for either human," Arceus continued gravely, severity in its voice as it spoke these shocking words. Pikachu cocked his head in confusion; _who was Ash going to face? And why is Arceus so worried about this encounter?_

"The world has so much needless bloodshed; there is no need for any more damage to be done to my beautiful world. And still, more blood is spilled every day. I fear that if your friend doesn't change his ways soon and avert from this petty course of revenge, there will be a lot more bloodshed when he encounters…him," the alpha continued. Pikachu was speechless; he didn't know whether to be surprised, angry, frightened or saddened. All of these emotions were making the poor mouse sick. He turned back to the monitor displaying his best friend sleeping peacefully. _He looks like the same old Ash, so what is Arceus worrying about?_

"You'll see. I wish you all the best during your stay at the hall of Origin. I must make my leave for now, however, if you need me, call out to me with your mind. I will appear to aid you in anything you need," Arceus finished, as its body began glowing. The light intensified, causing the little mouse to shield his delicate eyes lest his retinas burn from the intensity of the bright light. When the light finally disappeared, Arceus was gone with no indication of its presence.

Pikachu turned back to the monitor still displaying his friend sleeping peacefully, without a care in the world it seemed. The electric type raised a paw, placing it gently on the monitor longingly, wishing to just see his friend again. _'Ash, be careful.'_

* * *

Panting, Green finally placed a foot on the top step leading to his grandfather's laboratory, only to find the door wide open. He poked his head through the door hole, glancing around the very messy room.

"Gramps? Hello, it's me, Green! Hello?" his voice echoed through the laboratory, but no reply reached his ears. Cursing, Green retreated back down the winding stairway leading to the lab. He was too late. What should he do now? Continue his pursuit of Ash? Even if he did, what good would it do? The trainer was stubborn, and very powerful, what chance did he have of bringing him to his senses? Sighing, he walked back down the stairs, thinking of one other possibility. If he couldn't get Ash to stop whatever it is he was doing, and if Green's old rival wouldn't reveal anything about what was happening, then Green would just have to look to the people Ash cared about the most in this world.

'_Wherever you are bro, I need your help.'_

* * *

**Just want to say...100 reviews! Thank you all so much! Can I get 200 by the time this is finished? *crosses fingers***_  
_

**Special thanks goes to Remnants of Serenity, HollowKU, Kimmy-1016, EliteLuther and Bluedog270. And to Javanos, a very special thank you for helping me get started. Thanks everyone!**

**More of a filler chapter really, but some interesting things happen...Well, I think they're interesting. **

**The mysterious pokemon was Pidgeot, as so many of you guessed. It was Pikachu and (surprise surprise) Arceus in the hall of Origin. How is Pikachu going to cope, and what is Arceus so afraid of? I should be a TV host xD**

**Until next time, leave a review! I can't quite do a happy dance yet, since I'm still not recovered fully, so instead I'll do a happy flail from the comfort of my bed. *flails around madly***

**Trainer Theta**


	17. The Poachers

**Hey people, I survived two of my exams and had a long enough break in between to give you this. Personally, I'm pretty happy with how this chapter turned out, but leave me a review telling me what you think. As usual, thanks goes to HollowKU, Kimmy-1016, Imperishable Soul (so many name changes), EliteLuther and to senpen banka. I haven't really thanked you for your reviews, so here's an honorary mention. And thanks to everyone else who's left a review, I just don't have the time to list you all. Without further ado, I present chapter 16 :)**

* * *

Soaring above the clouds, Pidgeot beat her large, elegant wings, propelling her forward. Ash scanned the skies ahead through squinted eyes attempting to shield his pupils from the biting wind ripping at his face. Looming through the clouds came the towering figure of the monstrous mountain known as Mt. Silver.

"Here we are Pidgeot, land in the forest next to the mountain," he said, patting Pidgeot gently on her neck. Pidgeot gave a squawk of acknowledgement, veering towards the side as the ground began rushing towards them. The tops of the trees stood proud and tall amongst the endless skybox as Pidgeot came in to land. With a gentle thud, she touched down, arching her back downwards to allow her trainer to climb off. Latias landed next to them, revealing herself from her invisible state as Ash jumped down from the tall bird Pokémon. Uttering thanks, he returned the avian to her ball for some well-deserved rest. Ash turned back to the forest towering in front of them, inviting them to get lost in the tangled webs of the forest foliage.

"He should be in here somewhere. Latias, if you sense any people nearby, turn invisible," he cautioned. Latias nodded, turning to look at the dense forest ahead of them. Pidgeot had dropped them off at the edge of the forest, where there were no prying eyes to spot the Eon dragon. Taking a deep breath, Ash took a step forward into the shadow of the forest, and reluctantly, Latias followed as they began their venture into the deep foliage.

"Latias, you can sense other Pokémon right?" Ash asked, continuing his walk into the forest. Latias nodded, doing her best to keep up with him through the unnerving foliage surrounding them.

"If you sense any big Pokémon, tell me," he said, looking ahead into the bleak darkness. The dragoness didn't bother nodding this time, as she extended her psychic reach through the trees and bushes, scanning the terrain for any large movements. So far all she was getting were the occasional Pidgey, Ratatta or Teddiursa. Still, she kept up her search, not wanting to let her trainer down as they ventured further and further into the dark reaches of the forest. Even the towering silhouette of Mt. Silver couldn't be seen through the thick canopy of trees.

Yet, despite the darkness, her empathic senses could sense only determination from her trainer. There were no signs of fear or doubt, only confidence and a fiery determination. On one hand, it was admiring to see the boy so determined. Yet for some reason, this also unnerved the Eon dragon. She kept silent, still scanning the area around them for any signs of a large life form. Ash was still refusing to tell her who they were trying to capture, but Latias knew that he wouldn't go through all this trouble to find someone who was weak. Whoever they were looking for, they must be very strong, just like the rest of Ash's Pokémon on his "all star" team. The last time they went through so much effort to find one Pokémon was when they ventured to Cerulean cave to find the legendary psychic type. Who could possibly be stronger than Mewtwo, other than Arceus itself?

A roar could be heard, echoing through the darkness and invading their ears. The blood curdling cry sent a severe chill down the dragoness's spine, yet it didn't seem to bother Ash. Latias glanced over at her trainer, and through the thick darkness, she could see a smile grow on his face, but why?

"Latias, be ready. Keep your senses up," he warned. Latias focused on her psychic senses, still not finding anything larger than a Teddiursa. As they ventured further, the oppressing darkness became too much of a strain for the two. Ash fumbled around on his belt for a while, producing a pokeball which snapped open in his hand. Charizard emerged from his portable home, instantly lighting up the area with his fiery tail.

"Charizard, stay close to us, we need your tail to see," Ash explained. Charizards expression dropped, but reluctantly stayed at his trainers' side. He loved battling, and was disappointed when he was only being used for a torch. The trio pressed on further into the darkness, which was now being torn to shreds thanks to the bright light of Charizards tail. Suddenly, Ash stopped, turning to his right. He walked over to a tree, feeling the rugged surface of the bark with both hands. When Charizard followed him over, Latias could see what had Ash so intrigued. Embedded into the tree was part of a net, with a claw on one end keeping it in the tree. The fabric dangled feebly towards the ground.

"They're here," Ash muttered. Latias cocked her head in confusion, when Ash suddenly set off, walking faster than they originally were; Charizard following closely. Not wanting to be left behind, Latias hurried after her trainer.

"We have to be quick, I don't know how long it will be until they find him," he muttered, loud enough for the dragoness to hear. _Who's here? Why is Ash so worried?_ By this point, Latias was well used to unanswered questions directed at her trainer. He was so mysterious, not anything like the clumsy, rash, strong-headed Ash that visited Altomare all those years ago. She just wished he would tell her what was going on once in a while.

Ash pushed forward, being guided solely by the bright flame on Charizards tail bounding at his side as he tore his way through the thick vines and shrubbery, venturing deeper into the dark forest. It amazed Ash at how the area was set out; one side of the huge mountain was perfectly flat rolling fields leading to the rocky road that escorted you to the entrance of the mountain. Yet, on the far side of Mt. Silver lay this dense, nearly unbeatable forest. Wiping the sweat off his brow, he continued forward.

A sharp pain ran through Latias' head, as her psychic senses detected two objects. One seemed to be organic, most likely a Pokémon, but a very large one at that. The other, however, seemed mechanical, and whatever it was, it was huge. She nudged Ash's arm gently, gaining his attention. When he turned to look at her, he could immediately see the panic in her eyes.

"Did you find him?" he asked, his eyes wide open in anticipation. Latias gave a hesitant nod, and pointed towards the groups' right, leading through a thick line of trees. Ash nodded, immediately setting off in the direction the dragoness pointed in. The groups pace quickened, as they were becoming more frantic by the second. After several more minutes of walking, loud growls could be heard, and the occasional roar tore through the sky and inflicted pain to their sensitive ears. They began to encounter large craters, as if something big had stormed its way through the forest. Trees were uprooted and thrown aside like an unwanted Christmas present.

Climbing their way through, the group found a gap between two heavily damaged trees, which were leaning precariously to the sides. From the gap, light could be seen filtering from the midday sun above. They made pretty good time, setting off early in the morning and flying nonstop. Pidgeot really was an excellent flyer. A heavy thudding sound was echoing through the trees, and the smell of motor oil burned their sensitive noses. Another loud roar echoed through the skies, and a bright flash of orange light could be seen through the trees. Panicking, Ash ran for the trees, being closely followed by Charizard and Latias.

When the group emerged from the tree line, a metal claw whipped past them, missing them by mere inches. The claw didn't stop there, as it pressed on further to its intended target. The ground type gave another loud shriek, charging its fist into the oncoming claw and shattering it upon impact. Ash turned to look at the attacker, and immediately his stomach lurched.

In the middle of a large clearing stood an equally large machine, tank treads equipped to the bottom of the spherical vehicle, and several long, flexible arms snaking from the back of the machine; each arm equipped with its very own claw. Ash spotted holes on the armoured surface of the machine, and could only guess that they were housing missiles. He gave a weary sigh, more than used to dealing with strange contraptions from team rocket. At least they'd given him plenty of experience at destroying them.

He reached out for a pokeball, when another roar caught his attention. He turned to the source, and immediately, a smirk generated on the young boys face. Standing tall and proud at the other end of the clearing was a very large, very angry Tyranitar. Ash recognised it immediately; after all, he did hatch it all those years ago. The heavily armoured Pokémon opened its huge jaws, and an orb of volatile energy began manifesting there. After a few seconds, it fired the most powerful hyper beam Ash had ever seen. Latias ran towards Ash, holding onto his arm in fear as Charizard stepped protectively in front of them both, spreading his wings to repel any leftover energy from the extremely powerful attack. The hyper beam shredded the air particles, rocketing towards the machine and with a loud boom, contact was made. A huge explosion shielded the machine from view, and Tyranitar gave another loud roar.

To everyone's dismay, a shrill laughter could be heard through some speakers. After a few seconds, the smoke died down and the machine was standing there, firmly and completely unscathed.

"Give up already! You'll be going to a nice home with nice people, so stop making this difficult!" a masculine voice boomed out of the speakers. Tyranitars immediate response was a roar of defiance, stomping its foot on the ground, sending tremors throughout the area from the sheer power behind the Pokémon.

"Who are you?!" Ash yelled angrily, making his appearance known. He grabbed a pokeball from his pocket, prepping himself for a fight.

"Why we're honest and hardworking gentlemen just trying to collect their Tyranitar," another, higher pitched voice said innocently. Ash wasn't fooled by their petty charade.

"Well I know for a fact that you guys are poachers, and you're not having Tyranitar!" he yelled in response. Another cackle of laughter could be heard over the speakers.

"You caught us. Now step aside, kid. We don't want any unnecessary casualties," a third, much deeper voice said. Ash shook his head, throwing the pokeball to the ground. It snapped open, with a brilliant beam of crimson light, the land shark Garchomp materialised.

"If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you'll get!" he said, smirking, confident that they could wreck another mundane machine. Ash turned to Tyranitar, who was staring at him with a look of utter shock. Its jaw was wide open as it stared dumbly at Ash, memories of being hatched flooding back to him.

"Long time no see, huh? Last time I saw you, you were still a shy little Larvitar," Ash said, smiling. Tyranitar recovered from his shock, turning back to the machine and scowling. Now that Ash was here, they had to win.

"This is your last chance kid. Move or we'll make you move," the third voice said, irritation present in his deep voice.

"I guess you'll have to make me then," Ash smirked. Charizard, Garchomp and Tyranitar all roared simultaneously in a show of defiance.

"Your grave kid," the voice spoke for a final time, before the crackle of the speakers ceased and the machine reared into battle mode, each claw being waved threateningly.

"Charizard use flamethrower. Garchomp use Dragon pulse. Latias use Psychic to boost their strength!" Ash ordered. All three Pokémon nodded, charging up their attacks. Garchomp fired a volatile ball of crackling draconic energy towards the monstrous machine, and Charizard spouted a torrent of searing flames straight at the Dragon pulse, propelling it further with a charge of flame mixed with the draconic energy. Finally, Latias used her psychic on the fiery orb of energy, pouring more power into it and slamming it into the front of the machine, scoring a direct hit. To their horror, the ball of energy was merely snuffed out when contact was made.

"What? Why didn't it explode?" Ash thought aloud. All three Pokémon were wondering the same thing. With the amount of energy poured into that single attack, an explosion was sure to follow. Yet it was snuffed out like a match in a swimming pool. The machine roared into life, as the holes on the surface suddenly exploded, each one firing out a missile directly at the group. Gritting his teeth, Ash thought about his options.

"Latias use psychic on those missiles, send them right back," he ordered. Latias channelled her psychic energy, focusing on the incoming missiles. A faint blue glow outlined each one, as they stopped in midair. With a quick psychic command, Latias sent them flying back. '_Return to sender,'_ she happily thought. The missiles exploded against the thick armoured hull of the machine, yet when the smoke cleared, not a single scratch was present. This thing was indestructible!

"Charizard, Latias, use steel wing! Garchomp use dragon claw!"Ash yelled, becoming frustrated. All three nodded, charging up their respective attacks. Latias and Charizards wings began to glow metallic silver, as they launched themselves at the machine. Garchomps claws elongated to thrice the usual size, as crackling energy swirled around each claw. With a burst of speed, he was soon behind the two flying Pokémon. The machine emitted a loud whirring noise as it fired into action. The claws slammed down in every direction, attempting to block the incoming attack by striking down the attackers. Doing some swift dodging, Charizard flew up high out of the claws reach and angrily spat a flamethrower at the machine, which dissipated after a few seconds. Garchomp slashed at a couple of the arms, slicing them into nothingness with a swift thrust of his claws. Latias unfortunately was hit by one of the claws, and was sent spiralling down to the ground.

"Latias!" Ash screamed, snapping Latias out of her daze. Just when the unthinkable impact against the solid ground was going to happen, Latias regained control, altering her levitation psychically to rescue herself from her untimely demise. Breathing a sigh of relief, Ash watched as his three Pokémon retreated back to him, after failing to attack. Garchomp had sliced through three claws, rendering them useless. But it wasn't enough.

Ash clenched his fists, desperately trying to think of a way to destroy this monstrous machine once and for all. He couldn't attack close because of the claws, and he couldn't use a ranged attack because of the missiles. Even if he could land a successful hit, it wouldn't do any damage because of the machines thick armour. The only way inside the machine was through the missile tubes…_That could work._

"Charizard, Garchomp, Steel wing and dragon claw on those arms!" he ordered, formulating a winning strategy. He had to time this just right if he wanted to win. Charizard sped off, immediately taking aim at one of the wavering arms. Garchomp relaxed more, focusing on any incoming attacks to block and parry whilst Charizard sliced through the arms with his wings. Both were doing a successful job at fending off the arms, and after a few minutes, another two arms fell miserably to the floor.

"Good job guys!" Ash encouraged. All of a sudden, he felt a pain in his stomach, as if something was squeezing him. He looked down, just as his feet began hovering above the ground. He finally spotted his attacker, staring at the metallic death hand gripping his midsection tightly and waving him madly in the air. Latias attempted to fly after him, but was knocked back by the frantically waving claw. Ash yelled out to his Pokémon, who were all too tied up to help. It seemed like it was all over, as time began to slow down. He could see Charizard frantically weaving between waving arms. He could see Garchomp struggling to push back two claws at once. He could see Latias lying on the ground, badly hurt after taking several claws to her already strained head. He could see Tyranitar charging straight at him, his fist glowing white as the large Pokémon leapt through the air, seeming unbelievably weightless…_Wait, what?!_

Time returned to normal, as he saw the huge armoured Pokémon charge through the arm, slamming through the circuitry with a powerful brick break attack from one fist, grabbing Ash with the other. Ungracefully, they landed with a thud on the ground, Ash finally free from the crushing grip of the mechanical claw.

"Thanks Tyranitar," he said appreciatively, as he hurried over to Latias, who by now was struggling to levitate in the air.

"You okay?" he asked tenderly. Latias gave a weak nod, finally regaining her balance. She glared at the machine, ready to tear it to pieces.

"Tyranitar, could you use hidden power?" Ash asked. Tyranitar nodded, turning back to the machine as his body began glowing a silvery colour. Focusing on his hidden energy, several orbs appeared, surrounding its rock like body. With a quick exertion, he fired them at the machine.

From inside the cock-pit, the three men were frantically pressing buttons to combat Charizard and Garchomp, when one of them noticed the orbs of energy flying towards them.

"Fire missiles!" the tallest one said, his high pitched voice sounding ridiculous compared to the other two.

From the battle-zone, the covers protecting the missile pods opened, revealing a fresh set of ready to fire missiles.

"Now Latias! Use Ice beam!" Ash yelled. The Eon wasted no time in firing the attack, as the tri-spiked attack slammed into the front of the machine, freezing the outside of it. Over the missile pods, Ice crystals appeared, forming a barrier that not even the high powered missiles could escape. When the missiles fired, they slammed into the ice, exploding inside the delicate, non-armoured part of the machine, causing a chain reaction. Charizard and Garchomp ceased their attacks, returning to their trainer a safe distance away as more explosions could be heard echoing through the inside of the machine. Several cracks began to emerge on the surface, and a blinding light filtered through into the forest. A quick flash and the machine exploded, sending mechanical pieces raining down across the clearing. Latias used her psychic to repel any pieces that came their way.

After a few seconds, the battered machine stopped trembling from the sheer force of the explosion, and from the rubble emerged the three men, their clothes heavily singed but otherwise they were unharmed. They crawled out into the clearing, and were immediately trapped in the bone-crushing grip of Charizard, Garchomp and Tyranitar, each Pokémon securing one of the poachers each.

"How did you survive that?" Ash asked incredulously. That explosion should've done a lot more damage to the men than it did. The first man to speak was the smallest, being small and plump, with long brown hair that covered most of his face.

"Protective clothing. We came well prepared," he snickered.

"Obviously you didn't come prepared, otherwise you would've won," Ash said, smirking at the men who were now lost for words.

"What should we do with them Latias?" the raven haired boy asked. Latias turned to the men, scowling. She didn't like hurting people, but some people made it nearly impossible to resist. How could anyone be so evil as to poach innocent Pokémon? Ash was about to continue, but was cut off by a powerful voice echoing through his head.

'As you taught me many a day ago, violence will solve nothing. I will teleport them to the nearest Police station in Silver town. Let officer Jenny deal with these putrid humans,' Mewtwo said, disgust present in his voice as he finished. Before Ash could think of a reply, the three men began shimmering. A blue light enveloped them, and instinctively, Ash's Pokémon let go, returning to their trainer. The three men glanced around, confused.

"What's happening?" the tall, blond haired man replied, his shrill voice enough to make anyone cringe.

"I dunno," the largest man said, his deep voice overshadowing his colleague. The light intensified and the three men slowly disappeared. Even from this distance, Mewtwo could use his psychic skills exceptionally well. After a few more seconds, the light died down, and the men were gone, safely in the clutches of the Silver town police station.

"Good riddance," Ash muttered, turning to Tyranitar.

"Tyranitar, you were a great battler. How would you like to join my team?" he asked. Tyranitar didn't even hesitate, as he gave a frantic nod, flashing a toothy grin at the raven haired boy. Ash pulled out a pokeball, and tapped it gently on Tyranitars arm. In an instant, the large ground type began to dissipate into a crimson red beam, which was absorbed by the ball. It shook several times in Ash's hand, before a ping could be heard, signalling a successful capture. Ash smiled, hooking the ball onto his belt. His team was complete. He grabbed another ball from his belt, and opened it in his palm. Pidgeot emerged from the ball, landing elegantly on the scarred ground.

"Pidgeot, can you fly us to Silver town Pokémon centre?" he asked. Pidgeot nodded, lowering herself to allow her trainer to climb on. Swiftly, he mounted the flying type, recalling his Pokémon after he was safely saddled on Pidgeot's back. In a shimmer of light, Latias turned invisible, and the trio set off for Silver town. After a quick heal, he would finally be ready. And this time, there would be a very different outcome.

* * *

"A lab coat isn't exactly the best form of protection against the cold. I'm not as young as I used to be you know," Professor Oak whined to the disinterested Charizard. The fire type rolled its eyes, as it continued dragging the old professor through the thick blanket of snow. He was almost there, and then hopefully he wouldn't have to do any more annoying tasks. As much as he loved his trainer, Charizard was really getting fed up of transporting people around the world.

"Where are we going?" Oak whined once again. Charizard just huffed a small stream of fire, continuing forward into the howling snow. At the sight of his trainers red jacket billowing ferociously in the wind, the fire type cracked a smile. Finally, he could be rid of the senile old man. With a quick huff, he dragged the startled professor through the snow, throwing him roughly on the ground next to his trainer.

"Ow, what was that for? You wouldn't like it if you had a bad back," Oak moaned, rubbing the base of his back gently with one hand, before giving a fierce shiver. Slowly he stood up, finally noticing the presence of another person there. He turned to the person, before blinking several times. His eyes widened in alarm as he scanned the features of the trainer in front of him. Red jacket, black hair, blue jeans, and fiery red eyes which emitted an aura of coldness, as if all happiness the trainer used to feel had seeped away into the snow-laden mountain.

"I-is it really you?" he asked, his mouth suddenly very dry. It had been years since he'd seen his young champion apprentice, but here he was, in the very flesh. Is this where he'd been for the past two years? The trainer dropped a pokeball to the ground, releasing Espeon from the capsule. The psychic type's eyes began glowing blue, and suddenly the mountain evaporated, disappearing into mere dust particles, as a new scene took its place. Somewhere high in the clouds, the startled professor could see a trainer riding a Pidgeot. After further analysis, the poor man's heart stopped for the second time today. He was watching none other than Ash. The trainer had an all too familiar coldness about him that could only be felt emanating from one other person in the world, and that trainer was standing next to the professor.

The scene suddenly disappeared, and with a small thud, the professor fell into the fresh fallen, bitterly cold snow. On shaky legs, he stood back up, brushing snow off his lab coat, when a new voice made its presence known through the howling wind.

"Well well. Long time no see. I thought he'd bring you here," a familiar voice said, a hint of irritation present in his voice. The professor spun around, and for the third time today, his heart skipped a beat as he laid his shock absorbed eyes upon his first grandson, petting Charizard fondly on the neck.

"Green?" he choked. The spiky haired boy nodded.

"Hey gramps," he said, before turning his attention towards his mysterious friend.

"You mind telling me why you kidnapped my grandfather?" he asked, clearly not amused by the other trainer's actions. The trainer clad in red shrugged, before turning away from both Oaks to revel in the wonders of the viciously beautiful landscape below the peak, where he had been stood for the past two years, only leaving at night for sleep. Even then, he slept in the cave closest to the summit of this Arceus forsaken mountain. A beeping emitted from the senior professors coat, and after fumbling about in his pocket, Sam Oak produced a bleeping Pokenav, the screen flashing, displaying a message.

"What's that?" Green asked, as he curiously watched the device. Oak hastily tapped the screen, trying to pull up the information as quick as possible. He modified his Pokenav a long time ago to accommodate new information about his trainer's Pokémon. Essentially, he had a Pokedex of all of the trainers he helped start out their Pokémon journey. Green moved closer to get a better view, and when he saw the image displayed on the screen, he groaned. The professor's eyes darted across the screen, reading the information presented to him.

"So Ash caught a Tyranitar huh? That's it, I'm out. There's no way I can beat this guy when he has Pokémon this powerful," he said, directing the last part to his friend, who still had his back turned to the world. Professor Oak raised his eyes from the screen, staring in disbelief at Green.

"You've met Ash?" he asked, blinking several times. Green nodded, shivering at the memories of their latest battle, when Ash had outsmarted him on two occasions with his extremely powerful Pokémon.

"Yeah, thanks to him," Green said, pointing to the trainer in red. Oak nodded, wanting more explanations.

"He told me to find Ash and look after him. But when I found him at the Charicific valley, he wiped the floor with half my team in two different battles," he said, glumly admitting his failure to prevent the trainer in whatever Green's old rival wanted him to prevent. The professor turned to the other trainer, who still had his back turned. Oak suppressed a shiver, the chill of the mountain becoming too much for his old joints.

"How do you know Ash?" he asked. Several seconds of silence followed, before Green finally spoke up.

"He's still playing the silent act. He just hasn't been the same since what happened," he said sadly. Oak nodded, not wanting to pry further. He returned his eyes to the Pokenav, specifically the details on where the capture took place.

"He caught Tyranitar in the forest surrounding the base of, would you believe it, Mt. Silver," he said, looking for Green's reactions. Seeing his blank, expressionless face, he returned to the device in his hand. After pressing a few buttons, he held the device to his ear, and after several seconds later, he began to speak.

"Gary, is that you? Listen, Ash has just caught a Tyranitar. That means he has five Pokémon on his team," he spoke gravely, as if the world's future depended on this call. _Wait, 5 Pokémon? Last time I saw him, he only had two._ Green made a mental note to ask the professor about Ash's other Pokémon.

"I'm on Mt. Silver with Green and-What's that? Ok, ok, calm down," he continued, before stretching his arm out to Green.

"He wants to talk to you," he clarified. Green took the Pokenav, and cautiously raised it to his ear.

"Hey Gary, what's up?" he asked. As soon as he asked that, he jerked the device away from his ear, and despite the howling wind, a voice could be heard screaming through the speakers.

"Okay, okay, calm down. I know we haven't talked in a while, things have just been complicated. Now, what do you want?"He asked, with a hint of tiredness in his voice. A few seconds went by, with Green listening intently to what Gary was saying.

"Well, Ash has just caught a Tyranitar in the forest at the base of Mt. Silver. And after fighting a Pokémon as powerful as Tyranitar, he's bound to be heading to a Pokémon centre to heal up. The nearest one is in Silver town, so why don't we meet up there," he explained. Oak nodded to himself, quietly eavesdropping. He still didn't understand what was going on, but for now, they had to stop Ash from doing something. Despite his lack of knowledge, Oak had a sickly feeling that Ash needed to be stopped, or the outcome wouldn't be pretty.

"No, I don't know what's going on. Only two people know what's really going on, and that's Ash and-"he was interrupted by his brother before he could finish.

"Okay. Make sure your Pokémon are fully healed. Meet you there bro," Green finished, hanging up on the other boy. He handed the professor his Pokenav back, before pulling out Alakazams pokeball and summoning him. He was about to issue an order, but he instead turned back to the senior scientist.

"If Ash has 5 Pokémon, what does he have? When we battled, he said he only had two," he asked. Oak thought for a moment before replying.

"Well, he has Charizard, Garchomp, according to my records, he caught his Pidgeot last night, He's just caught Tyranitar, and then there's Latias," he concluded, counting off the Pokémon on his fingers. Greens stomach lurched at the mention of the legendary dragon. The news was even enough to make the trainer in red turn and raise an eyebrow. This was news to him, although that would explain the girl, since Latias could shape shift into humans…

"He caught…A LEGENDARY?!" he yelled, amazed at just how powerful Ash seemed to be. Oak nodded, eyes resembling hearts.

"Oh yes, and it would be marvellous if I had the chance to actually study her!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands together in joy. Green regained composure, turning back to Alakazam.

"Okay buddy, think you can teleport me and Gramps to silver town Pokémon centre?" he asked. His response was a quick brandishing of the psychic types mighty spoons. Smiling, he beckoned his grandfather to follow him back into the cave so they could safely teleport.

* * *

Back at the Charicific valley, Gary's Alakazam was just about to teleport him and Dawn to silver town, when a sudden "STOP!" emerged from the frustrated coordinator. Alakazam cancelled his teleport, and Gary turned to her questioningly.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"What's wrong? You just woke me up and told me we were going to silver town and now you're asking me what's wrong?! I haven't even fixed my hair yet!" she moaned. Gary sighed, fed up of having to explain everything.

"Look, when you were sleeping, I got a call from gramps, who was with none other than Green. Ash has just caught a Tyranitar at the base of Mt. Silver, so we think he's heading to silver town to heal up. That's why we're in a hurry," he said, skipping the details.

"And your hair looks fine," he added, not wanting to wait for the next hour for the coordinator to tidy her already tidy hair. He wasn't even sure what she did on a morning, since her hair always looked exactly like it does when she's supposedly tidied it.

"Now can we go?" he asked irritation clear in his voice. Dawn nodded; at the prospect of finding Ash, she didn't care about her hair...for once. Gary smiled, nodding to Alakazam to continue with the teleport.

"Wait, what about Liza?" Dawn asked, as they began to shimmer with a blue psychic light.

"I left her a note," Gary said simply, as they were both transported through the psychic realm. Their next stop, Ashy-boy, and this time, they were going to get answers.

* * *

**This is one of my longest to date, and I'm pretty proud of how it turned out. Hopefully you enjoyed it :)**

**So I've managed to survive two exams, only another four to go. I won't upload the next chapter next week, considering I have three of my exams then, so the next update will hopefully be on the 31st January. **

**Will Gary, Dawn, Green and Oak be able to stop the clash with a titan? (Lol title drop in).**

**And to anyone wondering, nobody actually knows that Ash has Mewtwo, since he hasn't actually caught Mewtwo. Therefore, everyone thinks Ash has five pokemon. **

**Anyway, cheer me up from my recent depression by leaving a review!**

**No happy dance this week. Sorry Kimmy.**

**Trainer Theta**


	18. The Battle (part 1)

**Hey, It's me! Delivering another heart-pumping chapter!...My attempt at making this sound amazing...anyway, after two weeks of non stop typing, re typing and editing, I finally am satisfied enough to upload this chapter. And to reply to glaceon 1013, You'll just have to wait and see what I have planned. I'm a lot happier now that my exams are done with for this month, and I even get a month break until more exams :D I think that's deserving of a happy dance (just for you, Kimmy)...Thanks to Imperishable Soul (seriously, why all the name changes? xD) EliteLuther, Kimmy-1016 and also thanks to senpen banka and Tyber Zahn, you both get a shout out this time, and of course to anyone else who's reviewed. Also, If you like Ash meets Red fics, check out HollowKU's fic, "Pokemon: The Parallel Challenger"...Anyway, I've rambled on long enough, time to get on with the fic! **

* * *

The centre doors slid open, and the trainer ambled inside, his indigo league cap concealing the hate in his eyes. He walked up to the counter, as the joyous pink haired nurse turned around to greet the visitor.

"Welcome to the Pokémon centre, how may I help-"she began, until she saw who it was. Memories of that night still haunted her, the hatred in the young boy's eyes, the sadness, the sorrow; it was a terrifying experience for even a nurse joy. She stood there, open mouthed, carefully analysing the boy in front of her, wanting to make sure it was the same trainer.

"Ash? Is that you?" she asked. The boy gave a nod, as he held out hands to the nurse. In each hand was an assortment of pokeballs.

"Could you heal my Pokémon please?" he asked, slightly impatient. All the time they spent flying today had really tired the boy out, despite the afternoon sun hanging high in the sky, not ready to depart yet. The nurse nodded, and with shaky hands, grabbed all of Ash's pokeballs. She turned around, and retreated into the depths of the Pokémon centre to find the recovery room. After a few steps, she stopped and risked a glance behind her, at the trainer who had lost his most loyal partner so tragically. The boy didn't seem upset, but the nurse could still see the anger in his eyes, even through the shadow of his hat brim. She shook her head sadly, and continued her path along the corridors of the centre.

Ash glanced around the large lobby, seeing trainers playing happily with their Pokémon, discussing with other trainers about the battles they'd had. The centre had an overall jolly feel to it, with the exception of the mentally scarred raven haired boy. Ash skulked over to a vacant sofa, and sat glumly on it, mulling over the past few days. He finally had his team, but was he ready to take on the trainer in red. He seemed familiar, but Ash couldn't place who it was. Even back when they first battled, Ash had a feeling like he knew the guy, but how? Maybe he wasn't ready to take on this trainer, maybe he needed a little more training. After all, he had only just caught Tyranitar and Pidgeot. He hadn't battled with them yet. He didn't know their moves, or their strengths and weaknesses.

But he felt like time was running out. How? He had all the time in the world, so why was he desperately rushing around to try and beat this trainer once and for all? Could it be fear that he might change his mind? No, he was adamant about this path. He was certain he wasn't going down the wrong road.

"And after another flawless victory from the budding Hoenn star, May Maple will be entering the grand finals of the Kanto grand festival! Can the Hoenn princess claim the title of top coordinator?" The TV blared out the broadcast. Then it hit him. It was Ash's friends. They were the reason he was so franticly assembling his team. He didn't want to face his friends, lest a cloud of overwhelming shame obscure his vision. He'd been ignoring his friends ever since he set out on his path for revenge, too scared to confront them, too guilty to talk to them. Ash hung his head low, facing the white tiled floor.

"How did this happen?" he muttered sadly to himself. When had his life devolved into a pit of shame, misery and anger?

"Ash, your Pokémon are all healed," the nurse said from the counter. Ash stood up and collected his pokeballs from the nurse, placing each one on his belt. He glanced up at the nurse, who still had the same look of concern on her face as she did when Ash first entered the centre, cradling his yellow mouse companion. He glanced down, not wanting to look at the nurse.

"Thanks," he muttered, before he turned around and began walking towards the door.

"Wait!" the nurse exclaimed, rushing around the counter and hastily stepping in front of the confused boy.

"You're just going to leave?" she asked. Ash nodded, still not looking at the nurse. Joy placed a hand on his shoulder, finally causing the trainer to look her in the eyes. Once again, he could only see concern in the beautiful pink orbs, adding to his guilt.

"It's my duty to ensure that trainers and Pokémon are well enough both physically and mentally before I allow them to leave my centre," she recited her Hippocratic Oath, still not taking her hand off Ash's shoulder.

"Ash, after all that's happened I'm getting worried about you. I'm sure your friends are equally worried too," she said calmly, doing her best to soothe the frustrated trainer. Ash looked down at the floor once more, guilt ready to explode out of the boys head.

"Please Ash, I know how upset you are over what happened, but you have to let it go," she continued. A long pause ensued, before Ash finally broke the silence.

"Thanks for healing my Pokémon, nurse Joy," he said, knocking her hand off his shoulder and walking around the nurse to leave the centre. Nurse Joy watched sadly, as the boy left the doors of the centre, out into the heat of the afternoon sun. He glanced up as he continued to walk, and when he achieved 10 feet away from the centre, a bright flash caused him to hide his eyes, lest he be blinded. After a few seconds, the intense light died down, and Ash revealed his eyes to the world once more, but immediately wished he hadn't.

"Hello Ashy-boy. Didn't think we'd be back so soon?" Gary chuckled, folding his arms while Dawn approached the boy, embracing him in a tight hug which Ash didn't return. He stood there, too stunned for words to form in his mouth. The very subject he'd been mulling over for the past 10 minutes was greeting him as if nothing had happened. How could they just be so forgiving? He'd completely blanked them and they still don't give up! For the first time since the horrible incident happened, Ash felt happy that he had such great friends.

Dawn broke the hug, stepping back a few steps to allow Ash to talk. She smiled kindly, yet anxiously at him, awaiting his response. After a few seconds, Ash swallowed hard, preparing to talk.

"Why?" he asked. Dawn cocked her head in confusion at the question, and Gary unfolded his arms, looking puzzled.

"Why? Why what? What why?" he asked, confusing the coordinator even more.

"Why do you still talk to me? After the way I've treated you, I expected you to never talk to me again after this is over," he muttered sadly. Gary stepped forward, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"We're your friends. We'll always be here to bail you out when you need it," he said, unusually kindly for the spiky haired boy. Ash looked to the floor, wondering what to do.

"What did you mean, after this is over?" Gary continued. Ash glanced up, suddenly wishing he thought more before he spoke. Before he could think of a response however, a second light appeared, next to the three. All three shielded their eyes from the bright light which somehow put the afternoon sun to shame. When it dispersed, the trainers glanced up, for two people it was a welcoming surprise, but for the raven haired boy, more shock impacted his fragile mind. So much had happened to the boy in this very short time frame, and his mind was severely scarred over such events. Gary was the first to speak, breaking the awkward silence.

"Hey bro, good to finally see you again," he said, stepping forward and embracing his older brother. Ash looked on, stunned. He knew Green looked familiar, but he couldn't place his pokeball how. Now it all made sense. Gary had told him a while back he had a brother, but rarely had contact with him. So Green was Gary's brother.

"You too Gary. But let's skip the chit-chat for now," Green said, breaking the hug and turning to Ash.

"Ash m'boy, what on earth were you planning on doing with this super team you've been collecting?" Professor Oak said, jumping straight to the unanswered question that the four craved so much. This was the first time Ash realised that the senior professor was here. He just looked glumly to the floor, not wanting to speak about his recent intentions. Too much shame was blocking his throat, preventing him from speaking, sending the area crashing into another awkward silence, which was soon broken however, by the blunette.

"Ash, we know you're upset, but we're here to help you. We've all come out to help you, so just let us. Please?" she begged, delicately coaxing the raven haired trainer to speak the truth. They've been hidden under a veil of lies for too long. They needed answers. Ash looked up, glancing at each of them in turn, his mouth moving, attempting to form words.

"I-I…I just can't," he sighed, looking at the floor again. He really wanted to tell his friends, but shame was still preventing him from revealing his true intentions.

"Can I at least ask what a certain mountain dwelling trainer has to do with all of this?" Green asked, immediately causing Ash to look at him, the anger once again rising to his irises. It was a terrifying sight to see the trainer so angry. Green even backed up a little from intimidation, despite Ash being younger than him.

"I guess that's a no," he muttered. Gary suddenly raised a finger in the air, exclaiming "I got it!" he turned to Green, whispering in his ear. As the seconds ticked by and Gary continued speaking privately to Green, the older trainer grew a huge grin on his face. When Gary finished, Green nodded, smiling.

"Okay, Ash. If you want to do this the hard way, we'll play along. Green has informed me that you've grown tremendously in strength, probably even more so with the addition of Tyranitar and Pidgeot. So how about this, me and Green take you on and if your five Pokémon can beat our six Pokémon, we let you walk away. But if we win, you tell us everything. Deal?" Gary asked, grinning wildly. Ash thought for a moment, considering his options. Someone must've told Green about Latias. He couldn't really run away from them, since they could just teleport back to him. He could do with a little extra training before his grudge match, and this was the perfect opportunity. Hesitantly, he nodded.

"Okay Ash, it will be a double battle, with us using three Pokémon each, against your five. Beat us, and we won't bother you again. You're free to do whatever you want," Green said, as he, Gary, Dawn and the senior professor walked backwards on the make-shift battlefield. Ash, however, had other plans.

'Mewtwo, could you make another psychic battlefield like you did in cerulean?' he thought. The psychic type responded with a brief yes, and the entire area began glowing with a psychic blue light. The light grew more intense, causing everyone to shield their eyes, earning a sigh from Gary and Dawn who had already had the unfortunate pleasure of experiencing this strange psychic energy field. Whilst the light was temporarily blinding everyone, Ash dropped a pokeball to the floor, revealing the chirpy dragoness companion.

"Go invisible," Ash whispered. Latias nodded, and with a shimmer of lights that contrasted the deep psychic blue of the energy around them, Latias used her feathers to refract the light perfectly, rendering her invisible. Just in time too, as the light finally died down, and the five humans were left in a psychic rift, the ground below them had a faint imprint of an official battlefield. The others unshielded their eyes, and Gary and Green stepped into their box, facing Ash. For now, Green and Sam hadn't a clue what was going on, so they'd just have to battle it out for now and ask questions later. Gary and Dawn didn't seem particularly worried, so why should they?

"You can choose first Ash," Gary said politely, waiting for Ash's first choice. The boy thought for a moment, deciding who would be best to open with. Should he jump straight in with Charizard and take out as many of their Pokémon with the fire/flying type? Or should he start off with the weakest first and save the strongest for later? Shaking his head, he withdrew two pokeballs from his belt, throwing them to the ground below. They snapped open, revealing Ash's first two choices for battle.

"Pidgeot!"

"Garchomp!" The battlers exclaimed as they entered the field. Why not do a mix of power. He hadn't really any idea just how strong Pidgeot was, so she was a must for this battle, and just in case things went badly, he still had Garchomp to rely on; a powerhouse and a wildcard, a good match-up for Ash's side.

Gary smirked, contemplating his choices. He knew what Pokémon Green would most likely have, and using this knowledge, he transferred some of his Pokémon back to the lab whilst at the Charicific valley on a hunch that they would have to battle Ash. He reached for a pokeball, throwing it forward onto the ground and revealing the familiar giant turtle Pokémon, roaring into combat stance, its twin jets on its shell taking aim ready to fire immediately as soon as the attack was called.

"Blastoise!" it roared, self motivating itself to shrug off the intimidation it was feeling. Green smiled, remembering the day his brother had got Blastoise. He hesitated for a moment, choosing the best matchup, before deciding to make things a little more interesting. He threw his pokeball to the ground, revealing his starting Pokémon for the match.

"Arcanine!" it howled, flames showering across its body as it released a light flamethrower in the air to signal its presence. It was in an Arcanines nature to display its power to prove its dominance over the pack. Today was no exception; the wolf-like Pokémon was making sure everyone knew who the alpha in this match was. Professor Oak walked to the centre of the battlefield, taking his place in the referee's box.

"This will be a five versus six battle, with the challengers Gary and Green Oak making the first attack. Begin!" he shouted to make his old voice heard across the strange new battlefield they found themselves on. Dawn stood to the side, spectating quietly. She never understood how Pokémon battles were used to solve so many problems.

"Alright Blastoise, start out strong and use Hydro pump on Pidgeot!" Gary ordered. Immediately, the turtle Pokémon fired a powerful jet of water at the flying type, with enough force to punch through solid rock. If the powerful attack connected, it would mean trouble for Ash.

"Pidgeot use steel wing, Garchomp counter attack with dragon pulse against Arcanine," Ash said calmly, feeling control over the battlefield. Pidgeot nodded, flapping her wings and taking flight, simultaneously charging steel type energy into her powerful wings to give them a metallic glow. Just when the attack was about to hit, the avian shielded herself using her giant wings as a solid metal wall, reducing the Hydro pump to something a Magikarp would be ashamed of using. As water rained down on Ash's side of the field, Garchomp used this cover to their advantage, and charged up the dragon pulse; crackling draconic energy manifesting in the beasts razor sharp teeth. With a quick exhale, he fired the powerful ball of energy through the make-shift rain directly at Arcanine.

"Extremespeed to escape, then keep going to attack!" Green hastily ordered. Wasting no time, Arcanine leapt away from the fast ball of energy, continuing his path around the battlefield, too fast for the naked eye to witness. That is, for the human eye to witness. Pidgeot narrowed her eyes from above the battlefield, now that Blastoise had ended the hydro pump. Spotting the wolf like creature speeding towards a bewildered Garchomp, Pidgeot dived bravely down, and just when the land shark was about to receive the attack, Pidgeot's superb eye-sight allowed the avian to extend her claws, grasping an invisible tuft of fur and hauling it into the air. Arcanine could only watch as its cover was blown and was raised high into the air; despite Arcanines weight, Pidgeot could still fly excellently. Ash grinned, finally realising just how powerful his Pidgeot had gotten over the years.

"Pidgeot, dive towards Blastoise. Garchomp use Dig on Blastoise too!" Ash commanded, yet another 'Ash original' springing to mind as he calculated a winning combo. Blastoise tensed itself, ready for its command.

"Blastoise use hydro pump on Pidgeot!" Gary yelled, growing irritated at the double team against him. Blastoise aimed its cannons, preparing to fire until a "stop!" echoed through his ears. He paused the attack, glancing back at his trainer.

"Gary, if you attack, you could seriously hurt Arcanine," Green said, calming down slightly after panicking over the welfare of his precious fire type. Gary gritted his teeth, not knowing how to counter. Ash had well and truly cornered them. They couldn't attack since it could potentially harm Arcanine, but they couldn't defend against two attacks at once…Or could they?

"Blastoise use rapid spin on the ground, bury as deep as you can go!" Gary ordered, startling Ash. Why would he dig if Garchomp was underground? Nonetheless, the giant turtle tucked in his limbs, spinning like a top in the process and slammed himself into the ground, carving through the earth like it was water. Pidgeot stopped her assault, still gripping Arcanine tightly. Green couldn't risk doing anything since they were both so high up. If Arcanine attacked, he would suffer a terrible fall down to the hard ground. Several seconds went by, until astonishingly, Garchomp burst through the ground, being thrown into the air as the still spinning Blastoise appeared behind him. The turtle had actually forced him out of the ground!

"Pidgeot, drop Arcanine and help Garchomp regain balance!" Ash frantically yelled. Pidgeot released her iron like grip, dropping the dog to the ground, yet the impact was prevented by Blastoise catching the helpless dog, setting it down gently on the ground. Pidgeot moved closer to the desperately flailing Garchomp, the pain still coursing through him; he hadn't expected a turtle to spin him out of a hole and throw him fifty feet in the air. As gently as she could, Pidgeot gripped Garchomps shoulders in her talons, supporting the land shark as they both began to fall slower to the ground. Garchomp was much too heavy for the avian to carry, but she could at least help the dragon have a gentle landing. With a light thud, they touched down, both Pokémon glaring at the opposition, ready for the next attack.

"Arcanine use fire blast!" Green ordered, and not a second later, the fire type opened its muzzle, spitting out a star of fire that arched through the sky towards Ash's side.

"Garchomp use dragon pulse through the middle of the fire!" Ash said, starting to grow concerned at his loss of control over the battle. Garchomp didn't hesitate to charge up the orb of draconic energy in its jaw, throwing it straight through at the incoming flames. Neither side could see the opposition, which is exactly what Ash was hoping for. Garchomps dragon pulse charged straight through the fire, collecting the heat energy within the swirling mix of draconic energy, further intensifying the orb of power as it shot through the sky towards the bewildered opposition, a trail of fire signalling its wake.

"Pidgeot use gust to blow the fire away," Ash said, feeling slightly calmer. The avian nodded, flapping her mighty wings to create a gust of powerful wind which ripped through the flames with ease, dispelling them across the field. On the other side of the recently dispelled fire, the dragon pulse made direct contact with the enemy team, exploding in a cloud of fire that rained down on the field thanks to the added power of the fire blast. Blastoise took the brunt of the attack since he used his shell to shield the vulnerable fire type. Sadly for them, he couldn't shield them from the fiery explosion that followed the collision. Ash glanced across at the other two trainers, and while Gary was looking reasonably concerned over Blastoise, Green was smirking. Why would he smirk when his Pokémon had just been hit badly? Ash shifted his gaze to the opposing Pokémon, when a red glow caught his full attention. Arcanine was standing proudly, body slightly singed and several cuts lined its body from the sheer force of the attack, yet he was emitting a strange red glow.

"What's going on?" he asked. From the other side of the field, Green was the first to respond.

"That, Ash, is the ability Flash fire. And you've just activated it. For its effects, I think it's better to show you than tell you," he smugly replied, as Arcanine gave a howl of approval, feeling the fires within burning twice as bright. Blastoise had finally recovered, and stood up on shaky legs, taking his place next to the fire type.

"Arcanine, show them what you're truly made of and use flamethrower," Green said, still with a tone of smugness in his voice. Arcanine shot back its head, brewing the fires in his throat. With a powerful exertion, the fire type expelled the torrent of flames, and it raced through the sky at tremendous speeds; the usual orange-red colouration was gone, replaced with a pure white burning fire.

"Pidgeot use gust to repel it!" Ash yelled frantically, as the unusually powerful flames shot closer. Pidgeot nodded, flapping her wings once more, sending a gust of powerful wind at the flames. TO her dismay, the flames merely wavered slightly, before continuing their charge forwards. After the powerful beat of her wings, the avian couldn't recover quick enough and was subject to the burning flames as they enveloped her, singing her elegant feathers. Pidgeot gave a squawk of agony, before the fames finally died down, and Pidgeot plummeted towards the earth.

"Pidgeot!" Ash yelled, but to no avail. With a sickening crunch, the flying type crashed into the ground, knocking her out instantly.

"Pidgeot is unable to battle," Professor Oak announced. Gritting his teeth, Ash returned Pidgeot to her ball for some well deserved rest. _Flash fire must have increased Arcanines power. Pidgeot should've been able to repel that attack with gust, and even if it did his, it shouldn't have defeated her. _Ash thought about his next selection, analysing the Pokémon on the field. Blastoise had sustained a lot of damage from the dragon pulse/fire blast combo, and so had Arcanine, but the fire type was regretfully twice as strong as before thanks to flash fire. Garchomp had taken little damage, and remained a strong contender. Picking his next Pokémon, Ash selected a ball and threw it on the ground, revealing the rock armoured dinosaur. With a roar, it announced its presence.

The rock/dark type slammed its fists into the ground, causing the earth to tremor and releases a lot of dust and debris, as Tyranitars sand stream whipped up a sandstorm. Arcanine suffered badly from the whipping winds sending sand and rock sediments crashing into its body, lining its fur in a sand tomb. Growling, Arcanine shook off the sand, attempting to see through the howling winds through slit eyes. Blastoise wasn't faring much better, as the turtle resorted to retracting its head into its shell to minimise the damage constantly being dealt by the sandstorm. Garchomp stood tall and proud, being immune to the sandstorm. Despite having two less Pokémon than his opponents, Ash once again felt in command. Across the field, both Gary and Green were looking nervous to fight such a behemoth. But if they both fought against Ash's Charizard before, then they both can definitely fight against Tyranitar, despite the armour Pokémon being a pseudo-legendary.

"Arcanine, let's try this again, flamethrower!" Green ordered, as once again, the fire type expelled an extremely powerful torrent of burning white flames at the two opponents, unfortunately for Green; the sandstorm was taking its toll, hurting both Blastoise and Arcanine, and was even lowering the power of the flamethrower as it attempted to plough through.

"Tyranitar defend Garchomp from the flames!" Ash shouted through the storm, luckily his voice was heard, and Tyranitar stomped in front of Garchomp, concealing the dragon type from the flames that washed over the rock type. Tyranitar smirked, as the flames failed to penetrate his thick armour.

"Green, I saw Ash doing this once, you think it could work?" Gary said, before whispering something into his ear. Green smirked, nodding eagerly.

"Blastoise use hydro pump!"

"Arcanine use flamethrower!" the two brothers ordered their Pokémon to attack. Blastoise fired a powerful jet of water that tore through the sandstorm with ease, while Arcanine spat a torrent of flames that moved alongside the hydro pump. The two attacks began connecting as they reached closer to their target, their powers melding as electricity was created, adding strength to the double attack. If this hit, it would be bad news for Ash, and this battle was one the trainer couldn't afford to lose.

* * *

**Well, this marks my first ever attempt at writing a double battle, as well as a full scale battle...well, as full scale as a 5v6 can get, but come on, it's Ash we're talking about. **

**last chapter, I made a mistake with the Pokemon types. Tyranitar is a Dark/Rock type, not a Dark/Ground type like I initially thought. **

**Several reviews have convinced me to make use of the Pokemon's abilities more, so I've given it a go. **

**This battle will be spread across a couple of chapters (I'm following pokemon logic; a battle solves anything...Seriously, every problem in the anime was solved by a battle of some sort).**

**Finally, I have a short break away from exams, so hopefully next chapter will be much better. I wasn't too happy with how this one turned out, but I've spent far too long re typing already so decided to upload. Still, tell me what you think with a review. Fingers crossed that my first attempt at a double battle was successful. **

**And lastly, just for you Kimmy, *Happy dance!* **

**Trainer Theta. **


	19. The Battle (part 2)

**This...was the hardest chapter I have ever wrote. I apologise for the shortness of this chapter considering the two week time period I've had to write, but you wouldn't believe just how much time I've spent on this chapter. It is a lot harder than I thought writing unique battle ideas and combo moves that I haven't seen anywhere else...And I've read quite a few fics on the site. So please forgive the shortness of this chapter. I have done my absolute best to write this, hopefully it will show. As usual, thanks goes to Imperishable Soul, HollowKU, Kimmy-1016, EliteLuther and a quick shout-out to ampplaca1. Thanks for the support :)**

* * *

"Tyranitar use Brick break to throw Garchomp in the air!" Ash yelled frantically. Tyranitar looked a little confused, but the sheer power of the incoming attack told him to trust his trainer. As quick as he could, the rock and dark type charged up the attack, then grabbed Garchomp and threw the dragon as hard as he could; despite the dragon's weight, Tyranitar still threw him quite high in the air. Garchomp spread its arms out wide, reducing its falling rate, awaiting the next orders.

"Garchomp use Dragon pulse as hard as you can on the ground in front of Tyranitar!" The raven haired trainer yelled, hoping against all odds that this attack worked. Garchomp frantically charged the attack between its jaws, wasting no time in firing the attack as hard as he could at the ground. Tyranitar braced itself, seeing not only the enemy attacks incoming, but now Garchomps. What did Ash have in mind? Just milliseconds before the attack connected with Tyranitar, Garchomps dragon pulse charged straight into the ground, causing an explosion to shake the entire field, jarring loose many rocks in the process which went flying through the air. Time was on Ash's side, as the powerful combo attack from the brothers slammed into the many rocks now flying through the air, absorbing most of the power and leaving only a faint trail of energy to wash over the stunned Tyranitar. How did Ash know that would work?! The armour Pokémon was very impressed.

Ash glanced across the field, wiping sweat off his brow as he eyed the two brothers. Both were standing, open mouthed at what just happened. Despite there being a giant hole on Ash's side of the battlefield, Tyranitar and Garchomp, who had just landed next to its trainer, were both completely unscathed from the brutal attack they just fired. Taking the trainer's temporary astonishment to his advantage, Ash ordered the next attack.

"Tyranitar use Dark pulse, Garchomp use dig," Ash ordered, feeling calmer than before. Tyranitar shrieked loudly, snapping the brothers out of their daze, not to mention terrifying them from the sheer force of the voice. Garchomp dove underground, quickly tunnelling underneath the enemy team, as Tyranitar prepared the attack. A dark aura enveloped the titan, and a horrible wave of pure hatred fled from the thick armour body, sending a painful chill through the enemy team as the dark powers invaded their cores. Arcanine howled loudly, feeling the pain to be too much, whilst Blastoise tried his best to endure the painful attack, but to no avail. Still, the turtle was standing strong, until the rocks underneath it exploded and Garchomp emerged, swiping both Pokémon with a vicious and relentless Dragon claw, knocking them both to the sides like flimsy paper cut-outs.

"Blastoise!"

"Arcanine!" the brothers called out to their Pokémon, as Garchomp returned to his side of the battlefield, a proud smirk adorning his shark-like face. Blastoise was the first to rise, having taken less damage from the double attack than the fire type who was susceptible to ground attacks. As he shakily rose to his feet, the sandstorm knocked him back over, sapping away some of his health. Giving a low growl, Blastoise glared at the enemy Pokémon as he rose to his feet once more. After a few seconds, Arcanine staggered to its feet, the red glow previously accompanying the dog had died down significantly to the point it wasn't noticeable without looking closely, plus the sandstorm wasn't helping their vision much. Arcanine must have taken some serious damage, since it looked ready to collapse and stay down. Still, pride was on the line, and Arcanine had already lost to this trainer once before, he certainly wasn't going to go down without a fight and diminish his masters honour. Gritting its teeth, it glared daggers at the two enemies through the whipping winds.

"Blastoise we need to protect Arcanine, block their attacks and let Arcanine do the attacking," Gary warned. Blastoise nodded regrettably; he was hoping to do some damage as a little payback, but it would have to wait.

"Garchomp use dig again, Tyranitar stay back until I tell you," Ash ordered. Both Pokémon nodded, and Garchomp dived into the earth once more. This time, Gary was prepared.

"Blastoise use rapid spin on the ground to drill a hole, push Garchomp out," he ordered smugly. Blastoise tucked in his limbs, and spun like a top, charging straight into the ground, but this is what Ash wanted.

"Garchomp use Draco meteor!" he yelled. From underground, Garchomp gathered the powerful dragon attack in his throat, manifesting energy until he expelled it, sending a comet of pure energy crashing into the roof of the tunnel he was in. The whole ground began to shake, and for Gary, this move spelled trouble. Not even Alakazam could escape this; Ash had lured him right into his trap. The ground gave way, exploding in several places as rocks began showering across the field. Arcanine was frantically dashing around, whilst Tyranitar was catching any incoming rocks, sending them flying to the opponent's side of the field. Blastoise was caught up in the direct force of the attack, being struck from all sides by the powerful dragon energy still present, as well as the rapidly churning rocks. The turtle desperately began climbing out of the vortex of rock he was being sucked into.

"Blastoise use hydro pump to escape!" Gary yelled desperately. The water type pointed its cannons down, firing a powerful jet of water into the churning rocks below with enough force to propel the heavy Pokémon through the air and land at the edge of the field, right next to a waiting Tyranitar.

"Thunder punch!" Ash yelled. Tyranitar didn't need to be asked twice, as his fist became enveloped in electrical energy, and with a mighty uppercut, knocked Blastoise off his feet, transferring cackling electrical energy to the vulnerable water type for even more damage. The turtle howled in pain, as Tyranitar backed up towards his side of the slowly settling field. Garchomp emerged seconds later, heavily bruised but still rearing to go, smirking at his handiwork. Blastoise slowly crawled to his feet, determined to land another few hits before he was knocked out, but as the battle progressed it was getting harder and harder to even stand up, and with the sandstorm still in effect thanks to Tyranitars sand stream, the battle was even more difficult. Both Pokémon were constantly taking damage. Arcanine limped back to their side of the field with Blastoise, avoiding the huge crater in the middle. During the brutal attack, both Pokémon had sustained tremendous amounts of damage, but were still in the fight.

"Ash, I gotta say, you are probably the second best trainer I've ever battled against, but you're certainly the CRAZIEST!" Green exclaimed, analysing the remains of the field. Gary looked on, already having experienced this combo attack once before.

"You ready to end this, bro?" Green asked, growing impatient and increasingly worried about their Pokémon's welfare. Gary nodded, a look of seriousness carved onto his face. This wasn't a battle anymore, this was a war.

"Blastoise use Skull bash on Garchomp!" Gary ordered. Clenching his teeth, the turtle Pokémon used as much power as he could muster and charged straight at the dragon type, doing his best to avoid the obstacle course left in the middle of the field. Garchomp sighed, knowing he'd be the first target since he was the weakest. Still, he'd fight with every breath in his body.

"Tyranitar use Hyper beam," Ash said, seeming slightly bored. He had complete control over the battle now, and he was confident of a knockout fairly soon for Gary and Green. Tyranitar opened its jaws, and an orange ball of energy began manifesting. Within seconds, the powerful beam of volatile energy was fired at high speeds across the field, straight towards Blastoise.

"Rapid spin and keep going!" Gary suddenly announced, correctly predicting Ash's next move. Blastoise tucked in its limbs and began spinning, with added energy from the skull bash attack increasing his spinning fortresses defence. Instead of an explosion from the two high powered attacks, Blastoise tore through the hyper beam, not losing any energy thanks to the rapid spin; unfortunately he was still taking damage, at a reduced rate. Tyranitar stopped the hyper beam, amazed that the Pokémon could slice through it that easily. Blastoise however continued his attack, still spinning rapidly with the force of the skull bash still in play. Garchomp raised his arms, ready to block, but the attack simply ploughed the dragon type over, the force of two attacks being too much for the exhausted dragon to take.

Instead of waiting for his trainer, Tyranitar used his initiative and knocked Blastoise away with a powerful Thunder punch, sending the turtle spiralling across the field in pain. He was at critical condition, but he still had one more trick up his shell. Climbing off the floor, Blastoise began to glow a vibrant blue colour, as his ability came into effect. It wasn't much, but Blastoise could feel the power surge through him, temporarily reinvigorating the tired turtle. Gary turned to Green, ready for any more ideas to knock out the two behemoths they faced once and for all. Green replied with a smug grin, as if to say "leave this to me."

"Arcanine use fire blast to separate Tyranitar and Garchomp!" he ordered. Arcanine gathered as much energy as he could to charge the powerful attack. When he fired, he ensured to focus more on the shape rather than the power, knowing that the attack wouldn't be very effective anyway. He knew what his trainer was planning, and it certainly wasn't meant to be an attack just yet. The Fire blast transformed into a colossal wall of fire that tore a path through the sky and in an attempt to dodge, both Tyranitar and Garchomp leapt either sides of the fire, separating them. Now they were sitting Psyducks.

"Arcanine, keep the attack up! Gary, the rest is up to you, take which ever you want," Green said, smugness clearly present in his voice at finally separating the two titans. Gary nodded, looking at Blastoise, who was still glowing from the extra energy he received from Torrent.

"Blastoise use skull bash to get in close to Tyranitar, then use Hydro pump on the Fire blast," Gary said, startling Green.

"Uh, Gary, the idea of the fire wall is to keep them separated, why are you attacking it?" he asked, the smugness from before completely gone and replaced with concern. Gary just smiled, giving Green his "Trust me" look. Green sighed, turning back towards the battle and deciding to wait and see what his younger sibling had in mind. Blastoise roared, charging up the attack and speeding towards Tyranitar like a bullet. Tyranitar was still trying to combat the fire that was surrounding him and obscuring his vision. Even though fire wasn't that effective against him, he was still suffering from the immense heat. He didn't even see Blastoise charge through the flames and unleash a powerful jet of water at the fire wall separating them. His vision went from bad to worse as the fire evaporated the water, sending a plume of steam high into the air, covering the entire battlefield in a thick fog. Green smirked, finally understanding Gary's attack.

"Tyranitar use Thunder punch in all directions and try to hit Blastoise!" Ash yelled, once again losing control of the battle. This fight was a lot harder than he had anticipated; the brothers were in perfect synch with each other. The trainers heard Tyranitars' fierce shrieks echo across the battlefield as he desperately swung his fists through the smoke to make contact with the turtle pokemon, but to no avail. Blastoise was safely hidden behind Tyranitar, being concealed by the steam.

"Grrrrrrrr Garchomp use substitute to escape the flames! Help Tyranitar!" Ash yelled, growing increasingly frustrated. From within the fire, a bright light began to shine, cutting through the powerful flames, and with a quick flash, Garchomp reappeared next to Tyranitar, panting heavily from sacrificing half of his health to complete the move. Ash had insisted that he learnt it in case of tricky situations, but he never thought he'd actually use it in battle. Tyranitar stopped his Thunder punch attacks, turning to Garchomp with as much frustration as his trainer; this battle was intense! Through the thick blanket of steam, Garchomp heard a distinct click, like a cannon being aimed. His eyes widened as he desperately swung around, spotting Blastoise's silhouette through the mist as the turtle took aim.

With one quick charge, Blastoise fired the jet of extremely powerful water at the two, its power doubled thanks to Torrent. Thanks to the sandstorm still in play from Tyranitar, Garchomp utilised Sand veil, quickly escaping the jet of water. Tyranitar wasn't so lucky, and moments later, he shrieked in pain as the water struck his back. It all happened in seconds, before Tyranitar even knew what happened he found himself on the ground, water still pumping painfully into his spine. The rock and dark type found his health being slowly sapped away, becoming weaker and weaker every second. Tyranitar knew that if the attack wasn't interrupted soon, this would be the end of his battle.

"Giga impact!" Moments later, Blastoise felt pain shoot through his entire body. Stopping the attack, he glanced to his side, and before he could react, the purple and golden bullet that was Garchomp flung the water type high into the air, but his onslaught didn't stop there. With one quick swoop, Garchomp followed Blastoise, and as the turtle began falling, Garchomp swung above him, before shooting down at speeds that would make a Rapidash cry with envy. In a second, it was over. Garchomp slammed Blastoise into the remainders of the field, causing an explosion of pure energy which pulsed across the field, being strong enough to knock Arcanine over, cancelling the Fire blast once and for all.

A blinding light followed, and everyone present shielded their eyes. The light lasted several painstaking seconds, before it finally receded. Uncovering their eyes, the trainers peered warily into the cover of the still present steam and leftover remnants of the powerful attack, before a silhouette emerged, standing tall through the obstruction of the leftover energy and steam. Ash smirked, amazed at the power being displayed; Garchomp limped out of the steam, heavily bruised and scarred from such brutal attacks, but still standing; but what about Blastoise?

The entire field waited anxiously for the steam to clear, revealing the outcome of the powerful attack. The battle was brought to an agonising halt, both trainers and Pokémon still gazing into the slowly dissipating steam. Finally, the slumped figure of Blastoise loomed out of the steam, and to Gary's horror, the turtle was lying on its side, its shell completely black from the sheer power of the attack. Its eyes were closed, and blood was trickling out from many small cuts on its heavily beaten body. The sandstorm subsided, and Professor Oak immediately rushed onto the battlefield towards Blastoise, climbing over all of the rocks on the scarred battlefield, making his way towards the edge of the crater where the water type lay. He quickly analysed its condition, before walking off the field towards Gary.

"Blastoise will be fine, he just needs a good rest," the old professor said. Gary gave a sigh of relief, returning the exhausted water type to his ball. Professor Oak walked back towards the referee box, as Gary glared daggers at Ash.

"What the heck do you think you were doing?! Blastoise could've been killed! Are you insane!" he yelled, anger boiling to the surface. Ash didn't react, and instead stared vacantly at Gary. His blank scare unnerved him, as the boy was usually so cheerful. Gary shook his head, deciding to just continue the battle. He selected his next pokeball, and threw it at the edge of the field. In an instant, the area was flooded with a red light, and seconds later Umbreon was revealed, standing confidently on her side of the field; after scanning the battlefield, the dark type sweat-dropped, taking into account the fact that the entire battlefield had been reduced to a huge, smoking crater. What in the name of Arceus happened here?

She finally took notice of the two pseudo-legendaries glaring at her; both of them looked heavily beaten, but still looked as if they could tear her in half with one attack. She glanced at her partner, taking into account the fire type's inability to stand up, as Arcanine wobbled around their side of the field, panting rapidly. Umbreon turned to her trainer, questioning him with her eyes. Gary replied with a shrug, before turning back to the battlefield.

"Blastoise was unable to battle. Gary's next Pokémon shall be Umbreon. Begin!" Professor Oak said, beginning the battle. Tyranitar roared, re-activating Sand-stream and seconds later, the vicious sandstorm tore across the field, damaging both Umbreon and Arcanine.

"Wait!" Gary yelled. Tyranitar ceased the sandstorm once more, confused.

"Ash, you really expect us to fight on this battlefield?" he asked. Ash glanced down at the remains of the battered field, sweat-dropping; 'I think I overdid it…

'Mewtwo, could you repair the battlefield?' he thought. Mewtwo responded with actions rather than words, as the field began to glow a psychic blue, and the jarred rocks returned to the centre of the field, filling the crater completely. When the light dispelled, the field was completely repaired. Everyone except from Ash gazed at the field, stunned at how such a thing could happen. Moments ago, they were staring at a crater, and now it was completely repaired! Gary and Green shook their heads, turning to Ash once more. Oak glanced at both sides, checking everyone was ready to battle.

"Begin!" he announced. Once again, Tyranitar roared, whipping up a sandstorm which immediately caused more damage to the enemy. Ash thought to himself a strategy. His first priority had to be Arcanine; it was weak, and one good attack should be enough to take it out. That way, they would be even at four each. But both Garchomp and Tyranitar were looking extremely tired; Tyranitar from taking that Hydro pump for so long at 4x normal damage, and Garchomp from using Substitute and Giga impact, as well as the aftermath of his Draco meteor. Whatever he did, it had to be quick.

"Tyranitar use dark pulse to knock out Arcanine!" Ash yelled, charging straight in before they could strategize against him. Tyranitar roared once more, gathering dark energy, before emitting the vile energy of concentrated darkness in a quick pulse that tore its way through the newly repaired battlefield. Arcanine tensed itself, ready to endure the powerful hit.

"Umbreon use protect to shield Arcanine!" Gary shouted. Umbreon leapt in front of the exhausted dog, and gathering energy, the dark Pokémon used the energy to manipulate the surrounding light, hardening the visible spectrum, and a green shield of energy enveloped the two Pokémon, completely protecting them from the horrible attack. Once the pulse passed harmlessly over the hard-light shield, Umbreon dissipated the attack, smirking at Tyranitar, who merely huffed and awaited his trainers' next orders.

"Now use Taunt!" Gary said. In poke-speech, Umbreon began shouting obscenities across the field, directed at Tyranitar. 'Wow, nice move you overgrown dinosaur! That attack really hurt…the air that is! Where did you learn to aim? Was your mentor a Spinda? I bet you couldn't even hit a Snorlax if it was right in front of you!' That did it. Tyranitar roared angrily, charging across the field with its fist glowing silver as it charged up a powerful Brick break; every intention to knock the stupid smirk off Umbreon's face.

"Tyranitar, wait!" Ash yelled desperately, but the rock and dark type continued its hate-filled charge. Umbreon smirked, waiting for her trainer's next attack. Gary didn't disappoint, and just as Tyranitar was about to hit, he ordered the command.

"Iron tail!" Faster than the human eye could see, Umbreon leapt into the air, her midnight black tail shining brightly as the metallic appendage struck Tyranitar in the face, landing a critical hit on the rock armour Pokémon. Shrieking loudly, enough to make every human cover their ears lest they be deafened, Tyranitar stumbled backwards, glaring at the moonlight Pokémon as it elegantly landed on the ground, smirking proudly. Tyranitar began retreating back to his side of the field, but his suffering wasn't over yet.

"Arcanine use Rock smash!"

"Umbreon use Iron tail!" the two brothers ordered simultaneously. Both Pokémon began charging the attack, Umbreon's tail began glowing once more as it hardened to steel, whilst Arcanine found new strength as the fighting type energy flowed through its heavily beaten body. Both Pokémon gave a quick howl, as they charged towards a stunned Tyranitar. He was still recovering from the last Iron tail attack, and now two super effective attacks were on the way! Unless Ash did something, it would be all over for the exhausted rock and dark type. Closing his eyes, he braced himself to take the dual attack. He dug his feet firmly into the ground, and raised his giant hands to attempt a last second block to reduce the damage. Both Pokémon were closing in, Umbreon leapt through the air, spinning to add momentum to the fatal attack, whilst Arcanine began speeding up, charging with as much force as a newly caught Tauros.

"Dragon claw!" Ash yelled furiously, fed up of losing control of the battle. It was strange to see so much ferocity out of the raven haired boy, but then again, he had every reason to be angry at the moment. Here he had two pseudo-legendaries whose every moves were being countered so successfully, making Ash lose what should have been a straight-forward battle. But it wasn't the Pokémon's fault. The brothers were so in synch with each other it was hard to believe this is the first time they'd met in years.

Garchomp wasted no time in aiding his team-mate and began dashing as fast as he could in his injured state to the centre field, where the armour Pokémon was, charging his two claws with draconic energy as he ran. With speed to make Arcanine cringe out of jealousy, Garchomp leapt in front of Tyranitar, thrusting both claws forward in a cross, catching both Umbreon's tail, and Arcanines front paws within the powerfully charged claws. Shrieking loudly, Garchomp spun around, striking both Pokémon with his deadly claws, and continued spinning at such speed that if you blinked you'd miss the attack. On the rebound, he struck again, connecting with both Pokémon, sending them flying painfully across the field.

"Tyranitar use stone-edge to finish it!" Ash shouted, not taking any chances. Immediately, rocks began gathering around Tyranitar, floating around the thick armour, before the rock and dark type threw them at the enemy Pokémon, now lying in a heap on the floor. They didn't have time to react, as the rocks came in too fast. Within seconds, the rocks struck the two vulnerable Pokémon, sending a small plume of dust into the air as they were buried in a rock-tomb.

"Psychic!" Gary yelled desperately, hoping his Pokémon was ok. After a few seconds, the rocks began glowing, until they exploded outwards, flying in every direction and making everyone duck. Umbreon emerged from her rocky tomb, bruised, limping slightly, but otherwise unhurt. The same couldn't be said for poor Arcanine. The fire type lay limp on the field, the battle finally taking its toll on the hard working Pokémon.

"Arcanine is unable to battle," Oak said. Smiling, Green returned the Pokémon for a well deserved rest. He'd fought hard, and at this moment in time, Green couldn't be prouder. He pocketed that ball, before withdrawing another one, throwing it onto the field.

"Good luck," he muttered as the ball snapped open, and when the bright red light faded, a tall, human-esque figure stood proudly on the field, brandishing two spoons threateningly at the enemy.

Professor oak stared at the battlers, wondering just how long until Garchomp and Tyranitar were out of commission. They were both looking extremely tired. The next battle was about to commence.

"Alakazam is Green's next choice. This battle will be Umbreon and Alakazam versus Tyranitar and Garchomp. Begin!"

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**I want to start by saying that the rest of the fic will not revolve around this battle. I'm going to set myself a limit to 4 chapters dedicated to this battle. This is chapter 2, meaning there is most likely going to be 2 more chapter on this battle. I will do my best to write the battle as best as I can, but if you have any battle ideas, combo moves, etc...then please feel free to share them, either via review or PM. **

**The brothers are proving to be a little too challenging for Ash to handle, will he be able to pull off a win? Both teams are now down to 4 each, but Ash's team has already taken quite the beating. **

**A review has convinced me to mention this point: Red and Ash are NOT related in ANY way. I think I already said this in a previous chapter, but I want to stress this point. Green and Gary are brothers, but Red and Ash are NOT related. By this fic's storyline, Ash and Red are both from a one-child family; they have no siblings. **

**Anyway, the battle will continue next week. Will Ash manage to beat Umbreon and Alakazam, or will they prove to be too much for the already exhausted Tyranitar and Garchomp. Oh how I love cliffies :P**

**Now it's time for some well deserved sleep. Goodnight!**

**Trainer Theta**


	20. The Battle (part 3)

**What's this? A chapter has been uploaded a week early? Indeed it has. I've had the week off this week and have spent most of it writing this chapter. Don't expect this to be a regular occurrence though, this is only up early because I've had a week off to write it, giving me plenty of time to write. Normally I'm limited to under half an hour a night, hence the two week update time. Since I've had the week to myself, I've been able to write much much more than I normally can in just a week. So here it is. Part three of the battle against the brothers. Thanks goes to Imperishable Soul, EliteLuther, HollowKU, Kimmy-1016 and senpen banka,**** and of course to anyone who's reviewed this fic, I thank you as well. Enjoy :)**

* * *

"Green, Alakazam is weak against dark types!" Gary cautioned his surprisingly calm brother. Green replied with a smile brimming with confidence. Gary shook his head, deciding to wait and see what his brother had in mind. Across the field, Ash was wondering the exact same thing as Gary; why choose Alakazam to fight against a dark type like Tyranitar?

"Tyranitar use dark pulse," Ash said cautiously. Green must have a plan, so he had to play it safe for now. Tyranitar roared loudly, expelling a dark wave of hatred that pulsed across the field. Umbreon looked calm; sine dark types don't deal that much damage to her. Alakazam, however, tensed himself, ready to endure the hit.

"Chill Alakazam. Let it hit you," he ordered. A cry of shock ensued from Gary; had Green surrendered?

"Green-"he began, but another smile from Green convinced him to wait. Turning back to the battlefield, he could see the dark pulse shooting towards their team. In one swift motion, it washed over Umbreon, not dealing much damage. When it reached Alakazam, it knocked the psychic type clean off his feet, sending an agonising chill down his spine. Shakily, he climbed to his feet, glaring at Tyranitar, but waiting for his trainer's orders.

"Disable," Green said. Alakazam raised his spoons, and a flash of white light enveloped the field. For Garchomp, the attack did nothing, but for Tyranitar, the attack was very effective. He didn't feel any pain from the attack, but the rock armour Pokémon felt weaker somehow. The light died down as quickly as it appeared, and Alakazam stoop panting heavily; that dark pulse dealt a lot of damage to the psychic type. Ash ground his teeth, knowing the effects of Disable. He'd have to wait a while before he could use Dark pulse again.

"Garchomp use Dragon rage to finish off Alakazam!" The raven haired boy ordered. Opening his jaws, Garchomp expelled a vicious torrent of green flames that leapt across the field towards the opponent.

"Umbreon use protect to shield yourself and Alakazam!" Gary acted immediately. Umbreon walked in front of Alakazam protectively, and once again manipulated the light around her, focusing on the light to manipulate and solidify the spectrum. A protective shield of hard light energy enveloped both Pokémon, effectively shielding them from the Dragon rage that struck seconds later.

"Alakazam use recover," Green ordered, still calm over the current battle. Gary smirked, finally understanding Green's plan. Dark pulse was a strong move, so by disabling it, the brothers had an advantage over the already exhausted rock and dark type. From within the protective shield, Alakazam began shimmering. The psychic type felt rejuvenated, as energy was restored. When Umbreon dissolved the shield, Alakazam was standing tall, feeling almost as good as when the battle first started. Ash gritted his teeth, desperately thinking of ideas. Out of the two opponents, Alakazam was the biggest threat, but he still had to be cautious around Umbreon. The dark type was very well trained and could be harmful to his already weakened team.

"Garchomp use sand veil to conceal yourself, get close to their team," he finally ordered. Using the cover of the powerful sandstorm, Garchomp made himself practically invisible, as he dashed towards the bewildered enemy team. The dragon dashed behind Alakazam, awaiting further orders. However, Green had other plans.

"Alakazam use safe guard to block the sandstorm," he said, confident over his Pokémon's abilities. A green light began shimmering, and much like Umbreon did, Alakazam began solidifying the visible spectrum of light around him, creating a green box which the sandstorm failed to penetrate. The box expanded, enveloping their side of the field. Garchomp had nowhere to hide now that the sandstorm had been blocked on their side of the field.

"Garchomp use dragon claw!" Ash yelled desperately. In a second, the attack was charged and Garchomp leapt towards Alakazam, fangs exposed as his claws swung forward.

"Iron tail!" Gary ordered. From the side, Umbreon appeared next to Garchomp, whacking the vulnerable dragon in the side with a tail as hard as iron. The land shark collapsed to the side, struggling to clamour to his feet. With great effort, he finally stood up, glaring at Umbreon.

"Use dig to escape!" Ash yelled, throwing his voice into Garchomps prison. Luckily for them, his voice was heard, and seconds later, Garchomp dove underground, reappearing next to Tyranitar within the protection of the sandstorm tearing across Ash's side of the field. On the brothers' side, the safe guard was still blocking the sandstorm, but it couldn't hold forever.

"Garchomp, snack time," Ash said. Garchomp smirked, knowing what his trainer meant. He charged up a dragon pulse, allowing as much draconic energy to manifest between his claws as possible, and in one swift move, he swallowed the ball. He felt the energy flow through him, increasing his power greatly. His claws elongated to thrice the normal length, as did his fangs. Garchomp looked demonic with his new-found power. He raised his claws into the air, roaring loudly. Across the field, the brothers' Pokémon flinched at the terrifying sight. Even Tyranitar recoiled slightly at the demonic gaze of the dragon type. Ash certainly thought of some creative ways to win battles. The rock armour Pokémon wondered just how stronger Garchomp was now.

"Dragon pulse," Ash said. Answering Tyranitars question, Garchomp charged a second ball of draconic energy, the normally green ball of energy was pure black, as it grew in between Garchomps lethal claws. With a quick swing of his arms, Garchomp sent the ball flying towards the protective box around the opponent's side of the field. The brothers didn't even have time to react as the ball slammed into the box, completely obliterating the side of the box it made contact with. The remainders of the hard light rained down on their side of the field, embedding into the two Pokémon.

The sandstorm finally reached them, knocking both Pokémon over within the whipping winds. The brothers, and Tyranitar, stared at the aftermath of the over powered attack, jaws wide open. That attack completely devastated the brothers' side of the field! Alakazam and Umbreon stood up shakily, feeling the brunt force of the howling sandstorm once more. Cuts lined their bodies from the daggers of hard light that rained down on them. Still, they were rearing to fight, and they would continue to fight with every ounce of strength they possessed.

"Umbreon use Faint attack on Garchomp!" In a flash of light, Umbreon disappeared and made her way towards the baffled Garchomp. Smirking contently, she wandered behind the demonic dragon and dropped her cloak of shadows. Before anyone could react, the attack landed a direct hit, knocking the over powered land shark to the ground in pain. Umbreon quickly dashed away to her side of the field to avoid being hit by Tyranitar.

"Garchomp use Dragon claw on Umbreon," Ash shouted. Climbing to his feet, using the support of his elongated claws, he quickly dashed across the field to confront the dark type.

"Counter with Iron tail!" Gary ordered. Umbreon waited for Garchomp to approach, charging her tail with steel energy, and just as the dragon slashed with one claw, she flipped through the air, swinging her tail downwards, which was blocked by the other claw. The two continued, swiping and blocking in a fierce display of close combat. One successive strike against Garchomp angered the dragon, and sent a cross chop painfully into Umbreon's side.

"Alakazam use psychic to help Umbreon!"

"Tyranitar stop Alakazam with stone edge!" Ash hastily cut in. Before Alakazam could charge the psychic attack up, Tyranitar sent a volley of razor sharp stones spiralling across the field.

"Quick, send them right back!" Green yelled. Alakazam hastily switched targets and not a moment too soon, the stones became enveloped in a psychic blue light and began slowing their onslaught to a gradual stop. With one quick psychic exertion, Alakazam sent the stones spiralling back across the field at Tyranitar, who took the attack head on.

"Hidden power!" Ash yelled. Still aching from the stone edge attack, Tyranitar charged up the hidden power, and several balls of glowing white energy materialized around his thick armoured body. With a quick blast, the orbs of energy were fired across the field.

"Teleport!" Alakazam disappeared in a faint flash of blue light, reappearing seconds later behind Tyranitar. Ash smirked; Green had walked straight into his trap.

"Crunch." Spinning around, Tyranitar caught Alakazam by surprise, opening his jaws and clamping down on the psychic types frail torso. Alakazam screamed in agony, as he was lifted into the air by the bone-crushing jaws compressing his sides. Tyranitar bit down harder and harder, his sharp teeth piercing the psychic types skin in several places and drawing blood, before he finally swung his head and released the defenceless Pokémon, sending him flying across the field and landing painfully on the ground.

"Alakazam no!" Green yelled.

Simultaneously, Garchomp landed a successful blow to Umbreon's side, knocking her backwards in agony from the over charged Dragon claw.

"Umbreon!" Gary cried.

Garchomp pulled back to his side of the battlefield, panting heavily. He was ready to collapse right there and then, but he couldn't let Ash down. Not after they'd come so far. Umbreon shakily climbed to her feet, concealing the pain through grit teeth. She wasn't down yet. The same couldn't be said for Alakazam.

"Alakazam use recover!" Green desperately pleaded. Alakazam remained silent, lying still as a board. Green was worried. Very worried. He watched the psychic type helplessly, praying that he would move, but so far nothing. After a few seconds, Oak began to make his call.

"Alakazam is unable to-"he paused, as a faint light enveloped the fallen Psychic type. Alakazams body began glowing, becoming brighter and brighter each second as the recover finally took effect. Grunting in pain, Alakazam wobbled to his feet, as the glow dispersed. He still had some fight left in him.

"Yes! Way to go Alakazam!" Green cheered, relief washing over him now that his Pokémon was recovered. Ash grit his teeth, analysing his team against theirs; Garchomp looked ready to collapse, and Tyranitar had used up a lot of energy. Across the field, Alakazam had just recovered half of his lost health, and Umbreon had only taken a few hits, granted they were powerful hits, but the dark type still stood proud. This didn't look good. He had to finish this soon.

"Alakazam use psychic on Garchomp!"Green's call snapped Ash out of his thoughts. Alakazam began glowing with psychic powers as the powerful attack was charged up. Garchomp wouldn't be able to take this hit!

"Tyranitar use rock slide in front of Garchomp!" He called out desperately. Tyranitar called upon the rock type energy in his body, manifesting it outside his thick armour as a shower of rocks began to form which tumbled down in front of Garchomp, forming a solid wall of protection. Alakazam cancelled the attack, knowing he wouldn't be able to penetrate the rock wall just yet. Ash was safe, for now.

"Umbreon use shadow ball on the rocks!" Gary ordered. Opening her jaws, Umbreon fired a ball of ghostly energy towards the rock wall. To her frustration, the attack failed to dent the mountain of rocks.

"Rapid fire!" Umbreon fired a volley of shadow balls at the wall, each one making contact but failing to do considerable damage.

"Alakazam use psychic to increase the power of the shadow balls." Alakazam concentrated his psychic energy, using his unseen force to propel the balls faster towards the wall, increasing the damage dealt by them. Still, Ash had some time before they broke through. He had to try something different. Normal attacks were being countered too easily, and his Pokémon couldn't take any more hits. Maybe there was one thing he could do, it was extremely risky, but it was now or never. He had to try.

"Garchomp, once that wall comes down, use the cover of the sandstorm to counter attack," Ash cautioned. Garchomp nodded, watching the wall anxiously. It was shaking pretty violently at the nonstop volley of Shadow balls pounding the other side. Several rocks came loose, until one last shadow ball collided with the wall, sending it tumbling down.

"Giga impact!" Ash roared. Immediately, Garchomp leapt into action, charging forwards as the attack began manifesting, transforming the land shark into a speeding purple and golden bullet of pure energy.

"Psychic Alakazam!"

"You too Umbreon!" The brothers called out their counter attacks. Both Pokémon began concentrating on the torpedo of power rocketing towards them, but with the cover of the sandstorm, it was extremely difficult for the Pokémon to get a psychic hold of Garchomp.

"Tyranitar use stone edge to stop the psychic attacks!" The rock and dark type send a barrage of razor sharp rocks flying towards the enemy, further blocking their psychic views of the battlefield. There was simply too much debris swirling around the battlefield that the two Pokémon couldn't get a mental grip on Garchomp. The dragon came closer and closer, not losing any speed from their attempts at a psychic barrier.

"Dodge!" The brothers cried simultaneously. Alakazam quickly dived out of the way, being the quicker Pokémon. Umbreon wasn't so lucky. With one final push, Garchomp slammed straight into the moonlight Pokémon, exploding on impact.

"Umbreon no!" Gary yelled, desperately scanning the smoke for any sign of the dark type.

"Alakazam clear the smoke," Green said, as equally concerned as his brother. That was some attack. Tyranitar subdued the sandstorm to allow visibility for Alakazam. With a quick blast of psychic energy, the smoke cleared, revealing two bodies lying next to each other. Garchomp was sprawled out, finally admitting defeat, and Umbreon was curled up in a ball; a last second effort to protect herself from the explosive attack. Both Pokémon harboured several bruises and various wounds, but nothing permanent. A good night's rest would do them wonders.

"Umbreon and Garchomp are unable to battle. Will trainers Gary and Ash please select their next Pokémon," professor Oak declared. Both trainers returned their exhausted Pokémon, uttering a quick "Thank you" before choosing their next Pokémon. Gary threw his ball onto the field, revealing the electric type, Electivire. Ash turned to his side, and without a word being said, Latias materialised in a shimmer of bright lights and floated onto the field next to Tyranitar. The rock and dark type gave a quick nod of respect towards the legendary, before turning back to the battle, glaring at the two opponents.

"So that's Latias huh?" Green asked, scanning the eon dragon. Professor Oak had a momentary heart attack upon first site of the legendary dragon, but it quickly passed for feelings of sheer excitement. With astounding speed for a man his age, he dashed across the field towards the bewildered Latias, hearts resembling eyes.

"Oh my gosh this is so incredible! To be able to actually see a legendary Pokémon in the flesh! I must study her!" He said excitedly. Ash sweat-dropped at the sight of the professor gushing over a Pokémon.

"Uh, professor Oak?" The raven haired boy asked, only to be greeted by the professor's face inches away from his, the old withered eyes full of excitement and curiosity.

"Please Ash, I must know all about her! What does she eat? How does she behave? Is it true she can use telepathy? What does her human form look like? What moves does she know? How much does she weigh? How did you capture her? Where did you capture her?" the old professor bombarded Ash with question after question. The boy merely looked across the field at the two chuckling brothers, begging for help. He looked back at the professor who was waiting for his answer to his long list of questions, all to do with Latias. Ash blinked several times.

"Uh, what was after how she behaves?" he asked. The professor didn't bother giving a reply, and instead returned over to the baffled Latias. She had seen some pretty weird reactions to her true form, but this about takes the cake. Finally the brothers decided to take pity on Ash, wanting to continue the battle.

"Gramps, do you think you could study Latias later when she's not in a battle?" Gary asked. The professor looked at them, then at the field, before realising that this was indeed a battle.

"Oops, sorry. I guess I got a little carried away with myself," he said mareepishly. He wandered back over the referee box, not once deviating his eyes away from Latias.

"This battle will be Electivire and Alakazam versus Tyranitar and…Latias," he said dreamily as he reached Latias' name. Oh he couldn't wait for the chance to study her. It was every scientists dream to study a legendary, and he was about to be the first to study a Latias up close! It was a dream come true for the senior professor.

"Gramps?" Green asked, breaking his trance on Latias. The legendary giggled to herself as Professor Oak embarrassingly returned his gaze back to the battlefield.

"Begin!" He declared. Once more, the sandstorm tore through the field, even hurting Latias a little. The eon dragon composed herself, not wanting to appear weak. She was a legendary after all.

"Let's start strong, Alakazam use psychic on Tyranitar." Alakazam's eyes began glowing, and seconds later, the same blue glow outlined the thick armour of Tyranitar. The rock and dark type gave a cry of surprise as he was lifted off the ground and high into the air. Despite weighing over 440 pounds, Alakazam still had a strong psychic hold of the heavy Pokémon, lifting him even higher into the air.

"Now throw it into Latias!" Green yelled. With a quick mental exertion, Alakazam sent Tyranitar flying back towards the field, straight towards Latias. The startled dragon watched in fear as the heavy Pokémon came closer and closer.

"Psychic." Ash said calmly, having full faith in his Pokémon's abilities. As quick as she could, Latias gathered as much psychic energy as she could, gripping Tyranitar and slowing his descent. She wasn't experienced enough to completely stop the heavy rock and dark type, but she could slow his descent to avoid injuries to either of them. Gently, she placed Tyranitar on the ground.

"Use Mist ball, but don't fire," Ash ordered. Latias gathered more psychic energy, collecting it between her claws, and an orb of psychic energy began to grow. Latias held the ball of compressed psychical mists in her claws, awaiting further instructions.

"Use it on the ground," Ash ordered. Latias threw the ball into the ground, sending the compressed mists flying across the field, enveloping most of the arena in impenetrable fog. With the added strength of the sandstorm, visibility was lacking on the field. What was Ash planning?

"Electivire use thunderbolt straight into the centre of the mist," Gary said, not wanting to wait and find out what Ash had planned. Electivire charged up the attack, and send a jagged line of electricity straight into the mist that consumed Ash's side of the field. Nothing. There wasn't any sound to be heard other than the howling of the sandstorm, slowly sapping away the Pokémon's health. Had the attack missed?

"Alakazam use psychic to move the fog," Green growled. A second passed by, and Alakazam began to move the cloud of mist to the side, but to everyone's shock, neither Tyranitar nor Latias were there.

"What? Where are they?" Gary muttered aloud. How could they lose a rock armoured dinosaur and a legendary dragon?

"Now!" Ash yelled. The brothers turned to their Pokémon, wondering what would happen. All they could do was to wait and see, they had no idea what Ash was planning. A rumbling noise echoed across the field, and moments later, the ground underneath Electivire and Alakazam exploded, sending rocks flying through the air as Tyranitar emerged from underground and slashed at the two unsuspecting Pokémon. But their misery wasn't over yet. From overhead, a shimmer of lights signalled Latias' presence as she dropped her camouflage and attacked hastily with a powerful dragon breath; the green flames consumed the two Pokémon, earning cries of pain from the two. When the attack had finished, Latias and Tyranitar returned to their side of the field, Tyranitar smirking proudly and Latias showing a blank look on her face; she didn't want her emotions to affect the battle, especially since she hated harming other Pokémon, even if it was under agreed circumstances such as a battle.

"Good move Ash, but now it's our turn," Green said, recovering from the shock of the attack. Alakazam and Electivire climbed to their feet, awaiting orders.

"Electivire use quick attack to get in close then use Brick break," Gary ordered. With an incredible burst of speed, Electivire tore across the field, leaving a white streak filtering through the sandstorm signalling his presence. Before Tyranitar could blink, Electivire swung his fist, landing a super effective blow to the rock and dark types' cheek. Tyranitar howled in pain, feeling weaker than ever before as he came close to the brink of collapsing. But he wasn't done yet. Out of anger, Tyranitar swung a glowing fist at Electivire, striking the startled electric type with a Rock smash, knocking it backwards. Tyranitar stood panting; it wouldn't be long before he was down for the count. Ash gritted his teeth, knowing just how weak Tyranitar was at present. He wasn't expecting such speeds from Electivire, and was completely unprepared for the attack. That cost him dearly.

"Alakazam use ally switch on Tyranitar." In the blink of an eye, Alakazam disappeared, just as Tyranitar began shimmering. The light intensified around Tyranitar, until he was swallowed up by the light. When it died down, Alakazam was standing in place of Tyranitar, and the rock armoured Pokémon was standing where Alakazam was. Before Ash could react to this strange move, the brothers continued their attack.

"Electivire brick break on Tyranitar!"

"Alakazam use Shadow ball on Latias!" Simultaneously, the Pokémon charged their attacks, but Alakazam was the first to strike. He sent a ball of ghostly energy spiralling towards the startled eon dragon, colliding with her in an explosion of shadows which clashed the howling winds of the sandstorm. Latias screamed in pain from the super effective attack, not used to such brutality, especially at this close range.

"Latias no!"Ash yelled, fearing for his Pokémon. He forgot all about Tyranitar until miraculously, Electivire was thrown through the air, colliding with Alakazam and sending them flying in a heap of tangled limbs. Tyranitar limped back towards his side of the field, growling angrily. He had barely escaped the super effective punch of Electivire, using a very hasty Rock smash to send the electric type flying. Latias began levitating once more, composing herself from the vicious attack. She hadn't had much experience in battle, so despite her good move pool and her quick reflexes, if she got hit too many times she'd be out of the battle rather quickly. Still, she wasn't down yet. Both Pokémon remained on their side, awaiting further instructions, whilst Green and Gary prepared their next attack; Alakazam and Electivire finally untangled themselves and stood up, glaring at the enemy.

"Ready to finish this bro?" Gary asked smugly.

"Ready when you are," he replied.

"Electivire use Thunder!"

"Alakazam use Hyper beam!" The brothers called out their Pokémon's strongest attacks. Roaring loudly, Alakazam gathered as much energy as he could muster, manifesting the volatile energy between his spoons. Electivire began cackling with excess electricity as he stored as much as possible, ready for the combined attack.

"Now!" Both brothers shouted, and the attacks were fired. Electivire sent out a bolt of crackling electrical energy arcing through the sky, as Alakazam fired an orange beam behind the Thunder. Miraculously, the Thunder attack began encircling the Hyper beam, fusing with the powerful attack for even more power. The combined attack raced towards the enemy at blinding speeds, easily tearing through the sandstorm.

"Quick, Hyper beam and dragon pulse!" Ash cried desperately. Without wasting any time, the two attacks were fired; Latias sent a ball of draconic energy flying forwards, before Tyranitar propelled the power of the ball by slamming his Hyper beam into the back of it. Both attacks collided, but to Ash's horror, the brother's electric and normal type combo began to push back his own hyper beam combo move. Tyranitar was just too weakened to pour any more energy into the attack, and as much as he hated to admit it, but both Alakazam and Electivire were stronger Pokémon overall than Latias; the eon dragon hadn't had much battling experience.

"Quick, dodge!" The raven haired boy yelled frantically, a last second attempt to save his Pokémon, but to no avail. Before either Latias or Tyranitar could move, the electrically charged Hyper beam ripped through their own attack, colliding painfully with the two Pokémon, ending in a huge explosion.

"Latias, Tyranitar!" Ash yelled, hoping against all odds that they were fine. But hope was dwindling as the seconds went by. There was way too much power in that Last attack for them to handle. The raging sandstorm died down, increasing Ash's fear for his Pokémon. When the smoke finally dissipated, he saw the silhouette of Tyranitar lying on the ground, with Latias slumped over the rock armoured Pokémon. Both Pokémon had collapsed.

"Tyranitar and Latias are both unable to battle. Will Ash please choose his final Pokémon," professor Oak stated, surprised at the defeat of both seemingly unstoppable Pokémon. Ash pulled out Tyranitars pokeball and returned him. However, as he pulled out Latias' pokeball, the eon dragon began to stir.

"Latias?" he asked. The eon dragon turned to look at her trainer, a look of sorrow and pain etched on her face. She looked down sadly, as she began to weakly levitate over to her trainer. Tears were forming in her eyes; she had let down her trainer. The pain she felt was too much for her to handle, and in the process, she'd lost the battle. She couldn't bear to look at Ash, as she forced herself towards his trainer box. When she arrived, she sagged back to the floor, not enough energy to remain airborne. Still, she refused to look at Ash as the tears fell to the ground. She felt a hand pat her gently on her back, forcing her to look upwards, and into the face of the raven haired boy.

"It's okay Latias. You battled great. I'm sorry you got hurt so much," he said, unusually kindly for his new cold personality. Latias weakly nuzzled her head into her trainers leg, staining his jeans with her tears. Ash pulled out her pokeball and opened it.

"Take a good long rest Latias. You deserve it," he said as the crimson beam of light engulfed the eon dragon, sucking her into the ball. Ash stood back up, pulling out his final pokeball. He couldn't believe it had come to this. He beat both trainers individually without even breaking a sweat, but here he was against them both at once, and he was down to his last Pokémon. The brothers were in perfect synch with each other, it was astounding to believe that they'd ever been beaten before by Ash. Gritting his teeth, he threw his final pokeball onto the field. It snapped open, and a wall of flames escaped the ball, flying higher into the air. The flames died down, revealing the eager smirk of Charizard. The fire and flying type roared threateningly, spewing out a torrent of flames into the air. This was Ash's final chance, but he was certain that Charizard would pull off a win…against three Pokémon. Statistics weren't in Ash's favour, but he trusted the orange dragon, confident in his abilities. After all, he was one of the world's strongest Charizards. He had strength and speed that would make a legendary weep.

"Ash's final Pokémon is Charizard. Let the battle Begin!"

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**Well, that's part three over with. Next chapter will be the finale of the battle. Will Charizard be able to earn a win against three enemies, one of them being unused so far? **

**Yes, Latias got knocked out early, much like Pidgeot. Both pokemon haven't had much battle experience with Ash yet; Pidgeot has been away for several years, so Ash doesn't know her strengths and weaknesses, moves, skills, etc...Whereas Latias is still fairly young and doesn't have much battling experience other than against Misty and Gary. That's why both have been knocked out so easily.**

**"What about Tyranitar? He hasn't been with Ash that long" you may be asking. Well, Tyranitar's been living at Mt. Silver for the past several years, therefore had plenty of opportunities to train. Not to mention Gary and Green had type disadvantages, with Blastoise being the only one who could have caused so much damage, not to mention Tyranitar is a pseudo-legendary.**

**Anyway, it will probably be (as usual) two weeks until the next update; I have a big battle to write for the next chapter. I hope you enjoy this one **

**Trainer Theta**


	21. The Battle (part 4 - The Finale)

**...I swear this isn't becoming a habit. Yes, another chapter uploaded early. Why? Because I have a very busy day tomorrow and won't get chance to upload it, so here it is, a day early. My treat. Consider it a mini celebration for reaching 20 chapters :D  
****As usual, thanks goes to Imperishable Soul, EliteLuther, HollowKU, senpen banka, and Kimmy-1016. And of course to anyone who's reviewed this fic :)**

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"Flamethrower on Alakazam!" Ash yelled into the air, into the waiting ears of the smirking fire and flying type. Charizard wasted no time in expelling a torrent of scorching flames down towards the battlefield,

"Use psychic to tear through the flames," Green retaliated coolly, overconfident in his Pokémon's abilities. Alakazam charged the attack, sending out psychic pulses of energy that tried to grab and contain the powerful flames. But to Alakazam's horror, he was mentally singed by the extreme heat of the flames; his mind's eye being blinded by the bright fire.

The flames continued their path towards the vulnerable psychic type, and Alakazam braced itself for a powerful hit. He heard the crackling of the flames come closer and closer, until they suddenly stopped.

The psychic type uncovered his eyes, seeing yellow fur obscuring his vision. He took a step back, realising that Electivire was stood in front of him, his whole body cackling with excess electricity as he propelled a powerful thunder attack to counter the flames.

Eventually, Charizard let up the attack, huffing out of annoyance. Electivire stopped the attack, panting slightly from overexertion; countering that flamethrower used up a lot more energy than the electric type initially thought it would.

"Alakazam use Ally switch." Green ordered the same attack as before, which dealt horrific damage to Latias. Alakazam once again disappeared, just as Charizard began shimmering whilst the dragon was still airborne. This time, Ash had a counter attack.

"Fire spin on the ground directly below you," he said calmly. Charizard spat a stream of fire directly downwards, as the shimmering began to intensify around his body. The flames circled the floor upon impact, before they began rising up into the air in a giant tornado of fire.

Just as the flames began lapping at Charizards feet, the dragon disappeared, reappearing next to a waiting Electivire. Alakazam reappeared where Charizard was, falling head first into the flame vortex, and immediately sustaining considerable damage from the immense heat.

"Alakazam use teleport to get outta there!" Green frantically yelled. He hadn't thought Ash would have come up with a counter for that move. Using whatever psychic energy he had left, Alakazam expelled most of it into the surrounding flames, dissipating them instantly in a bright flash of light, as Alakazam sifted through the psychic realm and reappeared safely on the ground.

"Thunder punch, Electivire!" Gary growled. Electivire swung a fist cackling with electrical energy right at Charizard, but before the attack connected, Electivire's fist met what felt like a solid wall to the electric type. Looking down, he saw Charizards claws curled around his own electrically charged fist, slowly pushing back his fist. Despite the electricity leaping from his body to the fire and flying type, Charizard was still smirking at Electivire, as if the electricity was a mere tickle to the dragon. Horror in his eyes, Electivire thrust as much force as he could into that attack, desperately trying to stop Charizard, but the dragons claws wouldn't budge.

"Flamethrower." As soon as the attack was commanded, Charizard opened his jaws, exhaling a brilliant mix of yellow and red flames directly into the face of the shocked electric type. Electivire screamed in agony at the burning flames, falling backwards and clutching his face in pain. Charizard nodded his head, satisfied he'd dealt enough damage for now, before returning to Ash.

"Electivire, you ok?" Gary asked. The fire engulfing the electric type died down, revealing a heavily burnt Pokémon with a look of anger and pain etched onto his face. Electivire slowly got to his feet, growling under his breath at Charizard, just as Alakazam returned to his spot next to the angry electric type.

"Alright Electivire use Thunderbolt," Gary said. Electivire smirked, as he gathered as much electrical energy as he could, wanting some revenge. He fired the electricity straight up into the air, where it arced through the sky and towards the airborne fire type. Despite the type mismatch, and the devastatingly powerful attack, Charizard was grinning; he always loved fighting tough opponents; it made knocking them out so much sweeter.

"Charizard use dragon rage, follow up with air slash and direct it towards Alakazam." Ash replied to their attack calmly, ordering Charizard to use his counterattack. Charizard opened his muzzle, and spewed out a jet of green flames bristling with draconic energy; Garchomp would be proud of the fire and flying type.

The attack tore through the thunderbolt arcing its way towards the orange dragon, rendering it mere static electricity which converged through the air particles. The dragon breath continued forwards, whilst Charizard flapped his wings powerfully, sending two scythes of compressed air flying straight through the dragon rage attack. When they reappeared, they continued their arc towards the startled Alakazam, trails of dragon fire echoing in the attacks' wake.

"Psychic!" Green grumbled. Alakazam complied, extending his psychic reach towards the incoming draconic scythes. The arcs of dragon charged air began wavering, but Ash had other plans.

"Fire spin around the air slash!" Always quick to improvise, Ash ordered the attack. Charizard inhaled deeply, before exhaling a potent stream of fire that circled the air slash perfectly, propelling the attack faster. With all the flames swirling around, Alakazam couldn't get a mental grip on the air slash, and resorted to an attempt at diving out of the way, but the flames reached him quicker than the air slash, surrounding him. All the psychic type could do was watch in horror as the scythes of draconically charged air came closer and closer. This would be it if he couldn't get away.

"Future sight!" Green seemed to realise what Alakazam had, so why not martyrdom? Using all the remaining power he had left, Alakazam charged the attack, suspending the psychic energy in an invisible force field which surrounded the entire field. In a few minutes time, the force field will break and Charizard will take the attack.

Just as the last remnants of his energy was suspended from his body, the scythes arced their way in, making contact with Alakazam's side and exploding due to the impact; that much draconic energy swirling around the already powerful attack was enough to create an explosion which tore apart the fire spin attack.

Green knew instantly that Alakazam hadn't survived the attack. The explosion was too powerful, causing even Charizard to retreat higher up to avoid the remnants of energy escaping the blast; a pulse that sped across the field and knocked over Electivire. The pulse didn't really do any damage to Electivire, but it still carried enough force to lift the electric type off his feet.

When the explosion finally ceased, Charizard flew low and used his wings to blow away the smoke, and all three trainers were able to identify the body of Alakazam lying limply on the field.

"Alakazam is unable to battle. Will Green please select his final Pokémon?" Professor Oak proclaimed. Green returned the fallen Pokémon, a smile on his face at how tough his Pokémon was; being able to knock out not just a pseudo legendary Pokémon, but an actual legendary too. Granted, they both didn't have much experience, but it was still an impressive feat for any Pokémon. Silently, he withdrew his final pokeball, knowing full well that if one of their Pokémon was knocked out, the other would soon follow. Alone, Ash could easily annihilate their entire team; the fact they'd made it this far was from their incredible teamwork.

"Go," he said, throwing the pokeball onto the field. With a brief pop, the ball snapped open next to Electivire, and the crimson beam inside fled onto the field, stretching out as the Pokémon began to materialise. The long, snake-like body was formed, and when the light retreaded back into the ball, a snarling Gyarados was hissing at Charizard, cutting the fire types attack in half.

"Ash, since our last battle, Gyarados has been dying for a little revenge. Think Charizard can beat him?" Green said cockily. Ash replied with a blank look on his face, remaining completely silent; he didn't think he could win, he knew he could win. The raven haired boy had full confidence in the fire dragon's abilities.

"I think we'll start this time. Gyarados use rain dance!" Opening his enormous jaws, Gyarados fired an orb of concentrated water energy high into the air, disappearing within the mysterious psychic ceiling being generated over the field. Moments later, a torrential downpour ensued. Charizard huffed; fighting in the rain always brought bad memories up for the fire and flying type, from when he was just a Charmander.

"Charizard, you know what to do," Ash sighed, recognising the strategy Green was using. It wasn't going to work twice though, and this time, Ash had a plan to counter. Sure enough, Charizard flew higher and higher, above the recently formed rainclouds until the psychic ceiling prevented any further ascension. Satisfied with the altitude, Charizard began flapping his wings, dissipating the clouds.

"Thunder." Out of nowhere, a bolt of electricity came thundering down on the unsuspecting dragon. Charizard shrieked in pain and desperately flew lower to avoid any further shocks. So much for that plan.

"Good work Electivire. Green, your turn." Gary turned to his brother, awaiting his attack.

"Gyarados, lets cool Charizard off with a Hydro pump," he said. Gyarados began contracting his snake-like body, building the energy within, before exhaling the powerful jet of water directly at Charizard.

"Flamethrower," Ash said. He wasn't too worried about the battle, still confident in his Pokémon's abilities. After all, this was the same Charizard who'd dedicated several years of his life training to be the best of its species. Without disappointing, Charizard opened his jaws and fired a stream of red hot flames that cackled and hissed as the rain tore through it. The flames still met with the Hydro pump successfully, and a cloud of vapour exploded from the attacks, shrouding the entire field in seconds. Charizard used this to his advantage. Without orders, he flew around behind both enemy Pokémon, waiting for the order to attack. But unfortunately it didn't come from Ash.

"Thunderbolt behind you Electivire."

"Hydro pump Gyarados." Miraculously, the brothers ordered the attack through the thick steam enveloping the field. Charizard didn't have time to react as a jet of ice cold water powered into his stomach, winding him severely and knocking the fire type back considerably. Moments later, a shocking pain coursed through all of his joints and muscles, as the thunderbolt attack scored a direct hit. Charizard opened his mouth, shrieking in agony at the double attack.

"Charizard steel wing to break free!" Ash yelled. This seemed to be the first time the young trainer was worried about the fire dragon. Charizard, through the sheer pain continuously coursing through his body, prepped the attack despite his screaming muscles begging him to surrender. Determination surged through his eyes, and with one quick swing, Charizard slashed two steel-like wings through the two attacks, cancelling them out, before hastily retreating back to his side of the field. The dragon was smoking from the amount of electricity that coursed through his body, but he was determined to fight. After all, he'd had plenty of practice withstanding electrical shocks thanks to a certain yellow mouse Pokémon.

"Are you ok?" Ash asked as Charizard touched down to rest his wings. The beast turned and winked at Ash, comforting the raven haired boy; this battle was far from over.

"Come on Ash, I thought you'd use a different strategy than that. The whole 'hiding behind the enemy team' has already been done," Green teased. So that's how they knew where Charizard was? Through sheer guessing?

"Face it Ash, you're getting tired. Your moves are becoming very predictable. Just give up and tell us what's happened. Maybe we can help you. That's what pals are for, right?" Gary said. Ash shook his head. He wasn't about to give up. He could still win this. Charizard is his most powerful Pokémon, there's no way it can lose.

"Charizard use flamethrower on Electivire." Ash needed to buy some time to think of a winning strategy against them, so launching basic attacks should do just the trick. Charizard obediently spat out a torrent of flames that tore through the rain still pouring down to the field, reducing his power slowly.

"Waterfall!" Green was the first to counter. Gyarados channelled water energy towards the floor, and within seconds, the force of the water propelled him off the field and into the air. Gyarados continued to ride the waterfall over to meet the flamethrower attack in the centre of the field, and soon after, another cloud of mist blossomed over the field.

"Flare blitz." Out of the steam, Charizard emerged coated in a raging fire as he sped towards the slowly growing waterfall. In one quick swoop, he charged straight through the towering water, knocking Gyarados back to the floor in pain as the water showered over the field. Finishing the attack grunting slightly, Charizard returned airborne, defiantly battling the rain that still tore through the air, continually weakening the vulnerable fire type.

On the ground, Gyarados was frantically thrashing around, attempting to wriggle back to Electivire to regroup. Charizard was too high for the water snake to attack, and any electrical attacks from Electivire would be easily avoided. They had to get in close somehow.

"Gyarados use your tail to launch Electivire!" Green shouted, suddenly formulating an attack. Electivire hopped onto Gyarados' enormous tail, before the water snake launched the electric type high into the air.

"Thunder!" Gary yelled. Whilst airborne, Electivire charged up the attack, sending volts of electricity crackling through the sky towards Charizard. The fire type instinctively ducked lower to avoid being hit by the electricity; being part flying type meant he couldn't risk taking the attack.

"Hydro pump!" From the ground, Gyarados launched another hydro pump attack straight towards the unsuspecting fire type. Charizard was propelled higher into the air by the blast of ice cold water striking him in the stomach, sending pain veering through his body. This was madness, how could Ash expect him to fight two perfectly synched brothers and their powerful Pokémon, at a double electricity and water type disadvantage on his own? Gritting his teeth, Charizard pulled away from the hydro pump, circling back to land next to his trainer. Ash didn't look particularly worried though. If anything, he looked rather calm. Strange, considering he had a huge disadvantage.

"Charizard take flight and use flamethrower on Electivire." He spoke eerily calm considering how badly he was losing at present. Nonetheless, Charizard took flight, not hesitating to charge a powerful flamethrower straight at Electivire. The electric type had just landed, and was in no position to counter attack.

"Ice beam!"Gyarados immediately sprang into action, firing three jagged beams of ice energy straight at the flamethrower. Ordinarily, fire dominates ice, but not when the attack is coming from a different angle. Just as Charizards flamethrower began lapping at Electivires' head, the ice beam collided with his wing, knocking him painfully out of the sky as he struggled to stretch his frozen wing out. Time wasn't on his side, and Charizard thudded against the ground. It only took a few seconds for the determined dragon to stand back up though. He was going to win this, for himself and his trainer. He would prove he was the strongest fire type in the world. These thoughts swirled around his head, until his rage built inside. Like a demon, Charizard exerted his fire type auras, as Blaze kicked in. His tail flame burned brighter, whiter, and enlarged to thrice the size it normally was.

Charizard snapped his eyes open, glaring daggers at the two suddenly frightened enemy Pokémon. He smiled, feeling the fire burning powerful within. Ash smirked, he knew it was only a matter of time before Charizard got mad enough to activate blaze. One of the perks of the vigorous training Charizard had endured was that now to activate blaze, the dragon had only to get mad enough, no matter how much damage he'd taken. He was extremely surprised that Blaze could be utilised like that, but it was a welcome surprise nonetheless.

"Let's show them our true power. Flamethrower!" Ash yelled smugly. Charizard's mouth snapped open and he shot a barrage of white hot flames directly at the enemy. Before the attack reached halfway across the field, Gary and Green could feel the extreme heat of the attack.

"Waterfall Gyarados!" The attack worked before, so why not now? Gyarados began climbing a wall of water that formed on the field, stretching to meet the vicious flames in the centre. Just when impact was about to be made, Charizard pumped even more energy into the searing flames, intensifying their power. The flames evaporated the water immediately, before consuming the shrieking water snake in their burning grasp.

"Thunder Electivire, quick!" Gary yelled. Electivire charged up the attack, firing it high into the air. A second passed, before a bolt of powerful electricity shot down straight on top of Charizard. Surprisingly, the dragon didn't even flinch as the super effective attack sapped away more of his health. If anything, it made the beast madder. He halted the flamethrower attack, and instead blasted out a wave of intense heat which knocked Electivire to his side, inflicting some serious burns on the electric type.

Gyarados tumbled to the ground helplessly, crashing into the centre of the field in a large plume of dust. Charizard smirked at his handiwork; a fall-damaged water snake, and a heavily burned electric type. Electivire grit his teeth, trying to conceal the pain from the burns as he glared at Charizard. The orange dragon had sustained considerable damage, but was still fighting strong. He wasn't sure if they could win against the seemingly unstoppable fire and flying type, despite them having the advantage.

"Electivire use brick break to jar loose some rocks!" Gary exclaimed. Electivire slammed his glowing fist into the ground, sending rocks flying high into the air.

"Gyarados use hydro pump to catch the rocks!" Green finished. Gyarados fired a torrent of high powered water across the field towards Charizard. As the rocks fell from the sky, they were caught up in the beam of water, being propelled towards Charizard for a combined rock and water type move.

"Dodge." Ash ordered. Charizard flew higher, out of reach of the attack.

"Use thunder on the water to reach Charizard!" Gary ordered. The electric type fired a jagged beam of electrical energy straight into the stream of water still tearing its way across the field. The water conducted the electricity, and the powerful attack leapt into the air, connecting with the startled dragon. Charizard howled in pain as he endured yet another super effective hit, before flapping his wings to disperse the electricity. He was panting heavily now, and wouldn't last many more attack.

"Use fire spin around the field!" Ash yelled into the throbbing ears of the beast. Charizard spewed out a jet of flame that tore across the entire field, rising higher and higher into the air. He had just transformed the entire field into a fire tornado! From within, the howls of Electivire could be heard as the heat burned him even more than before. Gyarados was more or less unaffected by the heat, being part water type.

"Thunderbolt Electivire!" Gary yelled desperately. His Pokémon couldn't handle being in the fire for much longer. Steeling himself, Electivire let loose yet another rod of electricity which shot through the air towards Charizard, but the fire and flying type merely dodged the attack, diving in and out of the flames surrounding them to evade.

"Gyarados use ice beam on the field around you and Electivire to cool down!" Gyarados fired a three-pronged jagged beam of ice energy directly at their feet, but despite the extreme chill of the attack, it was being melted almost instantly due to the sheer heat around them. Wiping his brow, Green ordered a second attack.

"Hydro pump on the flames!" Gyarados switched attack effortlessly, firing a blast of cold water to combat the consuming flames. Steam wafted around the field from where the flames were cooled by the water, and over time, Charizard had to fly higher to avoid the blasts of water dispelling his fire spin. He wondered why Ash wasn't ordering to attack, but then again, his trainer had some very unique strategies for winning.

Once the flames had been extinguished and the last remnants of the steam dispersed, the trainers could see the extent of their pokemon's injuries. Gyarados and Charizard remained relatively unburned, however Electivire was panting heavily as his body glowed bright red. Tufts of fur had been completely singed away from his body, revealing patches of pink skin. He'd definitely need a burn heal after this match.

"Electivire use Thunder! Finish this off!" Gary ordered, casting aside his concerns for his pokemon temporarily in favour of the battle. His burns didn't dissuade Electivire as he charged up the attack. He fired a blast of electrical energy, but unusually, it wasn't arcing through the sky like it normally did. He pumped more power into the attack, wondering why his attack wasn't working, until a loud shriek broke his concentration. He glanced across at Gyarados, and saw the water and flying type coated in an electrical field that was continually shocking his body.

"Gyarados no!" Electivire cancelled the attack immediately, and took a step forward to help his friend. The splashing water around his feet slowed his movement down, wait, water?

Electivire glanced down, seeing their side of the field coated in a large puddle of water. So that's why his attack hadn't worked; the water conducted the electricity directly towards Gyarados! Had Ash planned this all along? Did he know that Gyarados would use ice beam on the floor?

Another roar from the heavily shocked pokemon snapped Electivire out of his thoughts. Gyarados was hurt badly, but he was still in…but not for much longer.

"Charizard give it everything you've got; Flare blitz!" Ash yelled. Charizard's tail flame grew massively, burning brightly as the fire type became enveloped in a blindingly bright flame. Charizard shot across the field, burning brighter than a block of magnesium.

"Hydro pump!"

"Thunder!" The two trainers ordered their attacks most powerful attacks. Using the last remnants of their energy, Gyarados unleashed a torrent of icy water, which was immediately electrified by a powerful blast of electrical energy courtesy of Electivire. The combo attack tore across the field towards the incoming sun known as Charizard, and the two attacks met. Miraculously, Charizard tore straight through the jet of electrified water and shot straight towards the startled pokemon. The brothers didn't even have time to call out a dodge before Charizard rocketed in, exploding on impact with the ground in between Gyarados and Electivire. The explosion tore through the psychic battlefield, and the violent winds that followed was enough to knock over every human present. A cloud of smoke covered the battlefield, hiding the results of the last attack. It looked grim for both sides, that was an extremely powerful attack.

All three trainers watched in agonising anticipation as the smoke slowly began to dissipate, and through the smoke, two silhouettes could be seen standing tall, while one was lying on the ground in a heap.

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**I only finished this chapter up last night, so I apologise if there are a lot of spelling mistakes. It's been a very busy week for me this week.  
And thus concludes part 4 of the battle against the brothers! Who is the victor? For that, you'll have to wait for next chapter...  
...Which is going to be very difficult to write xD I'll try as always to upload it on time, but I'll leave a note on my profile if it's going to be late.  
Charizard is a tank! Despite a type advantage, he still put up a very good fight. My reasoning; he's been in brutal, vicious, horrible, strenuous, (insert more words here) training regiment for the past several years. Of course he's going to be a tough cookie :P  
Well, until next time!  
Trainer Theta**


	22. The Incident

**I...I can't believe this is up on time! When I finished writing this up, I re-read it and decided "Nah, I got a better idea," which resulted in deleting most of...well, pretty much ALL of this chapter and re-writing it. I didn't actually think I would upload this on time, but here it is! The battle is finally over, but what happens next? As usual, thanks goes to Imperishable soul, EliteLuther, HollowKU, Kimmy-1016 and senpen banka. And of course, to anyone who's reviewed, thanks a bunch! Keep me writing by writing more reviews! :D**

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The smoke dissipated slowly, and the two silhouettes towered out of the cloud, standing tall, refusing to lose to the other.

"Gyarados is unable to battle," professor Oak announced when the smoke finally cleared. Green sighed, returning the fallen Pokémon in defeat.

"You did your best. I'm so proud of you," he muttered, before turning back to the battle at hand. Charizard was glaring at Electivire, who looked as if the slightest breeze would knock the electric type over. Both had sustained considerable injuries, but in the end, Charizard had much more experience than Electivire. The fire and flying type had much more training, skill, and overall power, which was more than enough to defeat the type advantageous electric Pokémon.

"Hang in there Electivire. Think you could use a thunderbolt?" Gary asked cautiously. He was well aware of just how hurt Electivire was, but he had to win this battle. He couldn't lose.

Electivire gathered the little energy he had remaining and charged up a thunderbolt, which arced weakly towards Charizard. The dragon side-stepped to avoid the attack, despite the amount of super effective attacks the dragon had endured, he was still fighting strong.

Electivire tried attacking again, and failed. He was too weak to focus on accuracy, and Charizard was much too strong. He tried attacking a few more times, his power decreasing each attack, but still he missed. One final attack, one final desperate attempt at winning, Electivire sent a bolt of electricity towards Charizard, but it failed to even reach the dragon.

Exhausted, Electivire collapsed, being greeted by the sweet release of sleep. Gary sighed, incredibly proud of his Pokémon for his tremendous fighting spirit, but in the end, he lost. The trainer couldn't help but feel disappointed as he returned the exhausted Pokémon.

"Electivire is unable to battle. The victor is Ash Ketchum!" Professor Oak announced. Giving a breath of relief, Ash returned his hard working Charizard, before walking to the centre of the field to greet the two opponents. Gary and Green both shared the same look of disappointment at losing the battle, as they approached the centre with Ash.

"Congratulations Ashy-boy. You beat us despite an advantage. You're one tough trainer," Gary said, faking cheerfulness as he stretched his hand out for the boy to shake. Ash shook it quickly before backing off a few steps.

"I still don't understand why you won't talk to us. We're only here to help," Dawn said, as she walked over with the professor. Ash shook his head, sighing silently.

"I just can't. Now please leave me alone," he murmured, looking down at the floor. He glanced at the sides, noticing how the psychic barrier was still surrounding the field. Strange, last time they had a battle; the barrier disappeared as soon as the battle was finished.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk to us?" Green asked, hoping to get some information out of the distracted boy. Ash didn't seem to hear, as he continued gazing at the psychic barrier, confused.

"Why isn't it going down? Last time it disappeared as soon as the final attack was made," he murmured, loud enough for the professor to hear. He too glanced at the psychic wall surrounding them. A thought struck the senior professor, and he turned to Green.

"Green, what happened to Alakazam's future sight attack?" he asked. Green thought for a moment, before glancing at Ash.

"Oh no…" he muttered.

"What's wrong?" Gary asked, hearing Green's mutter. Green's eyes enlarged; a look of fear present in the orbs.

"Ash! Release Charizard now!" Green yelled. Ash looked back at him, confused, as did everyone else present. Ash was about to question the older boy, but before he could utter a single word, a hole above Ash's head opened, and a pink beam of energy shot down into the startled boy with an ear-piercing crack.

Ash shrieked in pain as the beam connected; it felt as if his head had been split in two! The searing pain coursing through his mind made the boy feel sick, and he fell to his knees in agony.

His hearing became muffled, and the trainer couldn't hear the frantic yells of his friends calling his name over and over again. His vision blurred as his friends rushed over to him, still calling his name in hopes the boy would reply. Ash tried to look up, to open his senses to the world, but to no avail.

He was slowly slipping into unconsciousness, his body and mind giving up on him and wanting rest. The last thing he heard through his throbbing ears was a guilty curse from Green, blaming himself for what happened. Ash's eyes closed, finally giving into the desperate urge to sleep, and he slumped onto the floor, out cold.

* * *

_White. All he could see was white. On the floors, on the ceiling, on the walls was white; it stretched on for miles, a long celestial corridor of the purest white. He took one step forward, his footstep echoed as the sound waves reverberated through the air. He glanced down, and spotted a very familiar face._

"_Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed with joy. He tried to run to the Pokémon, but every step he took he found himself unable to actually move. _

"_What the-?" He waved his hand in front of his face, and watched as the skin and flesh blurred as it travelled through the air, leaving a ripple in its wake. He tried walking forward again, but found himself on the same spot. Panicking, he tried to run out of this strange predicament; but to no avail. He stretched his arm out longingly calling out for the little yellow mouse stood watching him. _

"_Pikachu!" Ash yelled once more. The Pokémon merely stood there, watching him with a vacant expression. Ash struggled against the empty air for dominance, but failed miserably. He eventually tired out, and stopped any attempt of escaping this weird scenario. He glanced around, looking for anything that might suggest where he was, but all he could see was the glaring white halls stretching on and on until his eyes couldn't see. It seemed so empty, where on earth could he be? Unless he wasn't on Earth. But then, where was he?_

_He turned back to the electric type, still stood in the same spot; the mouse hadn't moved a single inch so far._

"_Pikachu, d'you know where we are?" Ash asked, but the mouse continued to stare vacantly at him, not a single muscle in his body was moving. Ash wondered if the Pokémon was even breathing; it was deathly still. _

"_**Is he awake yet?" **__A voice suddenly rocketed through the halls, reaching Ash's ears as it echoed for a few seconds. Ash glanced around, confused. Where had that voice come from? He couldn't see anything except from Pikachu, but the mouse remained still, refusing to move a muscle. _

"_Who's there?" Ash called out, still scanning the empty halls for any sign of life; there was none. He turned back to Pikachu, still unable to move despite his legs pounding against the floor in an attempt to reach the mouse. _

"_Pikachu, what's going on?" he asked, finally giving up on moving. Pikachu remained deathly still, by this point, Ash was beginning to worry. _

"_Where am I? Who brought me here?" Ash called out once again into the endless hallway; the only reply he received was from his own echo. He waited for a few seconds for any sign of life to approach him, but none came. The only other life nearby was the still Pikachu. _

"_**Let me know when he wakes up." **__The same voice as before boomed through the corridors, startling Ash with the sheer magnitude of the sound. It was like a cannon shot, echoing through the empty halls. Ash couldn't help but recognise the voice, but he couldn't place it to a person. He desperately scanned his memories, hoping to find the source of the voice soon. He had to get out of this strange place, but he had no idea how to even attempt it. _

"_**You shouldn't have brought him here!"**__ A second voice boomed through the corridors, this unknown voice was filled with power, as it commanded people to hear it. It was chilling to hear this strange voice. It didn't seem human. Before Ash could question the voice, a blindingly bright light filled his vision, and he hastily shielded his eyes from the light. He could hear light footsteps, as if someone was walking bare-footed through the halls, then he heard a strange __**swoosh**__ noise and a flash of purple, before the light finally receded. When he uncovered his eyes, he immediately noticed something was missing. The one other thing in these halls apart from himself; Pikachu was gone. _

"_Pikachu! Where are you? Pikachu!" He desperately called out, but as usual, only his echo replied. An overwhelming feeling of drowsiness overcame the boy, and he swayed on the spot, before falling to his knees._

"_Why am I so…Sleepy…" he muttered. Yawning loudly, he collapsed onto the floor, letting sleep embrace him. _

* * *

He opened his eyes, being greeted by the dimly lit ceiling light as it cast a haunting glow down on the boy. He turned his head, grunting in pain, to try and identify where he was. The last thing he remembered was recalling Charizard after the battle…

"Hey, you're awake!" A cheerful voice said. Ash turned to the other side, seeing the blue haired coordinator beaming back at him. Ash nodded, wincing as another wave of pain washed over him. It felt as if a Spearow was pecking the inside of his skull.

"Take it easy, you were hurt pretty bad," Dawn said soothingly. Ash laid his head back, trying to relax despite his head screaming in agony. One question still bugged him though.

"Dawn, where am I?" He asked, turning to look at the coordinator again from his rested position. Dawn smiled, before glancing over at a window on the far side of the room.

"Well, you were hit with Alakazam's future sight attack, since it was locked to Charizard and you returned it to its ball. As soon as the attack hit you, the weird barrier went down and we rushed you into the Pokémon centre," she explained. Now he remembered; Green had told him to release Charizard for some reason, but never told him why.

"Nurse Joy said after a couple of day's rest, you'll be fine," she continued happily. Then, without warning, she leapt up from her seat besides Ash, a look of panic in her eyes.

"Oh no, I was supposed to tell Gary and Green when you woke! They're gonna kill me!" She panted, running out of the room, leaving Ash alone with his thoughts. Presumably, he was knocked out by the attack, but was that strange place just a dream? The glaring white halls seemed so real, it couldn't be a dream. Then there was Pikachu; the yellow mouse didn't even move. And there was that strange voice; who was it? One thing was for sure: he wasn't going to get any answers from lying in a hospital bed for a few days. A knock on the door turned his attention away from the strange dream, before the door swung open and three people walked inside.

"Hey Ashy-boy. How're you feeling?" Gary asked; a genuine smile on his face. Ash shook his head softly.

"I think my head exploded," Ash muttered. Green shuffled forward, looking Ash directly in the eye.

"Ash, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for you to get hurt," he said. Ash smiled, touched that he had such caring friends. It almost made him want to reveal his terrible story…Almost.

"It's ok. It's not your fault," he said weakly, an overwhelming feeling of drowsiness suddenly overcoming the boy. All he wanted to do was to sleep. He yawned, shrugging off more pain, when Green broke the silence once more.

"But it is my fault! If I wasn't so stupid this wouldn't have happened!" He said angrily, not at Ash, but more at himself. He looked down at the floor, and Ash didn't know what to do. Even Gary looked a bit shocked at his brother's outburst. Dawn stood silently, waiting for her turn to speak.

"Green, it's okay. I don't blame you." Ash said tiredly. He didn't want to talk, he just wanted to sleep. Green shook his head, before finally facing the boy.

"Well if there's anything I can do to make it up to you, please say so." He said. Ash yawned once more, thinking of an idea.

"Well, there is one thing. D'you guys think you could leave me alone for a while. I'm really sleepy," he muttered, his eyes feeling really heavily. Green and Gary nodded, before walking out, not another word came from either of them as they wandered off back to their room. Dawn, however, walked up to Ash, crouching down and gave the boy a hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay," she whispered, before standing up and walking over to the door.

"Hey Dawn," Ash began, stopping the girl in her tracks. She turned around to face Ash, as he stared tiredly at her, fighting for control over his eyelids.

"Where are my pokeballs?" he asked. Dawn thought for a moment, remembering what happened to the exhausted Pokémon after they brought Ash in.

"They're in the recovery room. Nurse Joy healed them all up. Latias wanted to see you, but Nurse Joy returned her to her ball," she answered. Ash nodded, settling down in his comfortable bed, eyes closing as sleep embraced him once more. Dawn smiled, as she walked out the room.

"Goodnight Ash."

* * *

The sunlight shone through the gap in the curtains, hitting Dawns eyes and causing the blunette to stir. She groggily stood up, rubbing her eyes and yawning loudly. Maybe Ash was awake; the coordinator wanted some answers from the boy, whether he was injured or not, and she was going to get them, despite him winning the double battle against Green and Gary. After a quick visit to the bathroom to tidy her morning bed-head, using the help of a certain penguin Pokémon she owned, she walked off to the room Ash was in. She knocked a couple of times on the door, before walking in, not waiting for an invite…

"Hey Ash, how're you f-"she stopped, eyes wide open. She swept her eyes across the room, trying to spot the trainer, but there was nobody else in the room.

"Ash?" she called out, wondering if the trainer was just playing a trick on the girl. But then again, why would he do that?

"Ash this isn't funny," she said, beginning to panic. She walked over to the bed, checking he wasn't hiding underneath. Realisation was painful to her, as she realised that the trainer had gone, without a single word to the coordinator.

"Oh Ash…" she muttered, lowering her head sadly.

…

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaat! Whaddya mean he's gone?!" Gary screamed. Dawn winced, as his loud voice boomed through her ear drums. She shook her head, shrugging off the ringing now present in her ears.

"Exactly what I said. He's not here," she sighed. Gary's mouth gaped open, failing to think of a response. Why would he just leave if he was so badly injured? Even for Ash, this was surprising. The trainer often wandered off on his own, but never when he's been so badly hurt.

"Well, we have to go after him." Green announced, breaking Gary out of his thoughts. Dawn sighed at the prospect of another wild Psyduck hunt. The last one led her off a cliff, and it was only by a miracle that she was still alive. She still didn't know who that Charizard belonged to, but she intended to find out.

"Where do we start? He left no clue as to where he was going. Nurse Joy didn't even realise he left!" Dawn said, losing hope of ever helping the broken boy. This time, he really did leave no clue as to where he went, not even a note.

"Well, he was here last night, so he couldn't have gotten too far, especially since he was injured. He must still be local," Gary answered. That was true; he couldn't have gotten far, so at least they had a rough idea of where he could be.

"Well, there's the forest outside Mt. Silver. That's where he caught Tyranitar. Since he's assembling an all star team and he still needs one more Pokémon, he could've gone to Mt. Silver to catch another one. The place is crawling with tough Pokémon," Green added. Dawn nodded, happy with his thinking. Maybe he knew that a certain shadowy Pokémon had made his home in that area, and was going after that.

"Wait wait wait, the Pokémon he caught so far he's already met. They haven't been just random. He told me about his meeting with Latias and her brother Latios. The Charizard is one of his oldest, most loyal Pokémon, Pidgeot was the second Pokémon he ever caught, well, it's pre-evolved form. Then there's Garchomp, which evolved from Gible, and I'm pretty sure Tyranitar evolved from the Larvitar he hatched," he explained. Dawn contemplated this; it was true that he'd met all of these Pokémon before, she remembered all the stories the trainer had told her about his past journeys.

"So why would he go to Mt. Silver? I don't think Ash has any other Pokémon hiding in the forest," Gary concluded.

"Wait, what about Darkrai?" Dawn asked. Green stared at her confused, as did Gary. The budding scientist remembered his encounter with Darkrai, the shadowy Pokémon that attacked them, but why would Ash want it?

"We met Darkrai when we went to Alamos town! Ash must have found out Darkrai is living there now!" She finished. Like a light bulb flicking on inside his head, Gary grunted in agreement.

"How far away is it to the forest around Mt. Silver?" Gary asked his brother, who was listening intently to their conversation; the older sibling didn't know most of what happened in Ash's life, so he couldn't really make any educated guess as to whom his next capture could be.

"Well, Ash must've set off during the night, so it'll have probably taken him a couple hours to get there. He might have moved on," Green said sadly. Gary sighed, ready to admit defeat, when an idea struck him. He dipped into his pockets, pulling out a small device which he held up to his ear after flipping it open and pressing several buttons.

"Gramps? Could you look at Ash's latest catch for me?" he spoke into the device. After Ash had gotten injured, the professor rushed back to the lab, confident that the boy would be fine. In the meantime, he had some important research to do. Gary stood there, waiting intently for the professor to reply, until a small voice crackled out of the speaker, too quiet for anyone else to hear, but whatever the senior professor said, it put a smile on Gary's face.

"Thanks, bye." He said, closing the device and putting it back in his pocket.

"Good news, if Ashy-boy has gone into the forest, he hasn't caught Darkrai yet. His last catch is still registered to Tyranitar," he summed up with a smile. Dawn sighed with relief, confident that Ash was in the forest somewhere.

Green nodded, smiling at the news, "well then, let's go!"

* * *

"You shouldn't have brought him here," the god Pokémon spoke sternly. Pikachu's ears drooped, a feeling of overwhelming loneliness overtaking him. All he wanted to do was to see his best friend again. Was that too much of a crime?

"I understand you are feeling lonely, but these halls are sacred. Only those who have moved past the physical realm may enter. It is for the sanctity of this holy place," Arceus explained. Pikachu nodded, his head sagging down to the floor.

"Can't you simply observe this human? You are allowed to do that much, but you mustn't interact with them. Bringing them here is dangerous," the god continued. Pikachu was fed up of watching. He'd been watching his trainer for too long, becoming increasingly saddened at his trainers' new persona. He wanted to talk to him just once more, but he couldn't. The little mouse didn't understand why it was so dangerous to bring them here in the first place.

"Because he may become trapped here. The only way to bring a living being into these halls is to invade their dreams, as I'm sure you're already aware since you brought him here. If the subject fails to wake up, his mind may become trapped here forever, unable to return to the physical world. Not even the powerful psychic abilities of Cresselia could save them," the god answered. Pikachu still didn't understand most of this, but he nodded his head regardless.

"If you're feeling lonely, you are welcome to explore the grounds and interact with other beings in this realm. They are all just like you; leaving their physical body behind in the eternal grip of death. Many of them have suffered what you are going through," Arceus said. The god hated seeing its children upset. Pikachu nodded, his head still sagging low, facing the floor as he stalked off in pursuit of some company. He hadn't moved from this area since he arrived; all the little mouse had done was observed his trainer.

Arceus watched the electric type walk away, feeling saddened by the emotional display the mouse was presenting. Arceus had considered interfering in this one particular case, however, it would be very dangerous. If anyone found out about his existence, they could attempt to gain entry into his realm. Still, with the inevitable meeting approaching fast, Arceus wasn't sure how long the world would stay safe.

Arceus had been observing Ash as much as Pikachu had, and the god didn't like what it was seeing. The trainer was becoming incredibly powerful, and if nothing was done soon, the meeting between the two trainers could very well bring destruction to the Kanto and Johto regions, if not the whole world.

Arceus was nervous. Very nervous. In a bright glow of light, the god disappeared into his private realm within its universe, amidst the realm of time and space. The god needed sleep, but Arceus still couldn't run from the feeling of overwhelming dread and fear that was slowly gripping his body.

Nobody knew just how much power the two trainers possessed. If that power was released all at the same time…No, he couldn't think about that at the moment, he just had to trust that one of his legendary children could help prevent the clash, and the god could only think of three that could even attempt to retain the stability of the world; the three entities that were at constant war between each other ever since they discovered the others' existence. The three legendary deities had all of Arceus' hope pinned on them.

Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina.

* * *

**Dun dun duuuuuuuuuuuun! Let's recap, Pikachu has just been told off by god, and god is scared that when two trainers clash, it's going to be huuuuuuuuge!**

**And we're back to reading a lot of different segments! Yay!  
**

**So, where has Ash gone? Has he gone to the forest like the others think? After that battle, and that injury, I bet most of you forgot Alakazam used Future sight ;) he couldn't have gone too far, right?**

**Then again, I'm just the author; what the heck do I know?**

**On a slightly unrelated note, guess who bought Black 2 last weekend! If anyone want's to battle or trade or anything (I have some real gems on offer) PM me and we can trade friend codes. Oh, and if anyone is willing to trade a Latias, I'm sure I'd be able to find something that would interest you, not to mention I would greatly appreciate it. My Latios needs a friend! **

**Nothing more to say, really. This chapter was more of a "calm after the storm" type of chapter. More like a filler chapter. Eh, after a four part battle, you can't expect another one. The story needs to progress!**

**Until next time! Oh and happy Easter! i haven't a clue when Easter is, but everyone keeps talking about it so it must be close! **

**Trainer Theta**


	23. The Truth

**Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to chapter 22! I finished this one up fairly early in the week. It isn't a long update, just a short one, the next few chapters are most likely going to be short ones, since I'm preparing for later chapters; the inevitable clash with a titan (lol title drop in). Anyway, as usual, thanks goes to Imperishable Soul, EliteLuther, HollowKU (Seriously, check out his story "The Parallel Challenger" for an awesome Ash-meets-Red fic), senpen banka and Kimmy-1016. Also, I'd like to give a quick shout-out to Atrum Nocturn. And to Necron Dragon Lord of D.A, thanks for the Latias :D  
****Without further ado, I present chapter 22! Enjoy! (wow I'm in a good mood!)**

* * *

"Pidgeot use steel wing," Ash grunted. Pidgeot flapped her wings, lifting into the air, and with one quick burst of energy, her wings were enveloped in a steel jacket, before the avian charged at her target; a large tree to one side of the clearing they were in. Ash's other Pokémon watched with bated breath, curious to see if the bird could achieve her goal.

With a loud squawk, Pidgeot charged into the tree, her wing slicing through the thick trunk with ease, as the avian emerged on the other side of the severed forest wood unscathed. Ash smiled, impressed with the flying types power; he was also feeling ashamed that he didn't utilize all of this power during their battle with Gary and Green.

He shook his head, dismissing the thought; now was time for training, not dwelling on the past. But Ash knew perfectly well that the past was what's driving the trainer through this path of vengeance he'd chosen.

"Great work Pidgeot. We're going to work on improving your defence, since that's your weakest point. Latias pair up with Pidgeot and battle. You both need to work on your endurance," he ordered. Pidgeot squawked in approval, and Latias nodded her head, before the two flew off to one side of the clearing to train. Ash turned to his other Pokémon.

"You three are great battlers; you were amazing during the fight with Gary and Green. But you all have points you need to improve," he said. His Pokémon grunted in acknowledgement, before he continued.

"Tyranitar, you need to work on your speed, so I want you to run around the clearing nonstop to work out your leg muscles." Tyranitar sighed; is Ash really expecting a 440lb rock armoured dinosaur to run fast? Nevertheless, the rock and dark type wandered off to the side, beginning his training by running as fast as he could around the clearing, his footsteps vibrating the earth with every step the heavyweight took.

"Garchomp, we need to cover your weakness to ice types. We don't know what Pokémon he'll have, so we need to be prepared. That's why I want you to learn flamethrower. Focus on turning your dragon type energy into heat, rather than power," Ash explained. Garchomp nodded, before moving over to practice near Pidgeot and Latias. The dragon didn't know who "he" was, but he'd train nonetheless.

Ash watched his Pokémon train, glancing over at Pidgeot and Latias, he saw spheres of draconic energy flying at the Avian, who promptly blocked the attack and retaliated with a quick air slash, which was torn apart by Latias' psychic. He glanced over at Garchomp, who had his eyes closed, in deep concentration. Tyranitar charged past Garchomp, shaking the ground with every step the monster took as he pounded his way around the edge of the clearing.

"Charizard. You've proven that you have amazing battling skills, and if you battle like you did before, there's no way we can lose," Ash began. Charizard grinned happily, proud of his power, and that his trainer recognised it.

"But, we still have work to do. You're not going to learn a new move, or train like the others. Instead, I want you to do something a little…different. Come with me, I'll explain everything," the trainer said, leading the confused fire and flying type into the surrounding forest.

…

"Are we there yet?" Dawn whined for the hundredth time. Gary shook his head, knowing that Green would answer.

"No Dawn. We still have to travel a bit further," the gym leader said, sighing; he was getting fed up of Dawn's constant moaning. Unlike Gary, Green wasn't used to his ears having this much brutality from constant whining emanating from the blunette.

Dawn sighed, her head low as she dragged her feet along the path. They've been walking for what seemed like hours towards the iconic Mt. Silver, or more specifically, the surrounding forest. The coordinator sure hoped that Ash was indeed in the forest.

"So when we get to the forest, how do we find Ash?" Gary asked the question that was plaguing everyone's minds. They had travelled to the forest on a hunch, but how would they actually find Ash? The forest spanned over miles around the ruthless mountain, it would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

"Well…I guess we'll just have to play it by ear," he said simply, as the trio trudged on. Silence befell the group, until Gary spoke up.

"Green, before you left you were telling me about this really tough trainer. Well, who is he?" He asked. Green remained silent for a few seconds, sifting through his memories, before he finally spoke.

He…Is the most powerful trainer in the world," he began, startling Gary. He'd heard stories of a really powerful trainer, but is this the trainer from the stories?

"He's a really good friend. He came from Pallet town too," Green continued, startling Gary even more. Did the most powerful trainer in the world really come from his home town?

"But, who is he?" Gary asked again. He needed to know who this trainer was; this trainer had caused his brother to move away, hide from his family and become the most powerful gym leader in Kanto, Gary had a right to know who he was. Green sighed, before continuing.

"Years ago, when I was just setting off on my Pokémon journey, Grandpa gave me a Charmander. I trained hard, determined to be the strongest. At the same time, this other trainer started his journey, taking a Bulbasaur from gramps-"

"Wait, Grandpa knew this trainer?" Gary interrupted. Green nodded, before continuing his story.

"Yeah, gramps knew him. We were tasked with completing the Pokedex, but we were constantly competing with each other, seeing who's the strongest at every opportunity. We were a lot like you and Ash. Anyway, as we both continued our journey, team rocket rose to power, taking complete control of Celadon city. Well, we both broke into Celadon, with the help from a good friend and her Jigglypuff. We were captured by team rocket, but we managed to escape, discovering their master plan. They found a way to actually fuse together the legendary bird trio; Zapdos, Moltres and Articuno! But, we managed to stop them, regaining control of Celadon."

"So you were responsible for stopping team rocket?" Gary asked incredulously; he saw the report on the news when he was a kid, but the news reported never said who actually stopped them.

"Yeah, we stopped them. Anyway, we continued our journey, and we entered the Pokémon league. We both made it to the final round, but he beat me, claiming the championship for himself. Well, we returned home, and he got a letter of challenge from Bruno."

"Bruno? The elite four Bruno?" Gary asked, once again interrupting. Green nodded once more, continuing his story.

"Yeah. Well, he never turned down a challenge, so he packed his bags and went to Mt. Moon to fight Bruno. But it was a trap. We didn't hear from him in months, until Brock from the Pewter gym found him. Or so he thought."

"Brock? He was involved with this too?" Dawn piped up.

"Yeah, anyway Brock called us from Mt. Moon saying he found an ice sculpture of a young trainer. The Pallet town star was frozen on top of the mountain, but when Brock inspected the statue, he realised it was just that; a statue. He was nowhere to be found. We later found out what happened, when we finally found him. Turns out the elite four ambushed him, freezing him in that statue before abandoning him."

"Really? The elite four did that? That doesn't sound like them," Gary commented, remembering his and Ash's encounters with the famous four. Green grunted, irritated by all the interruptions.

"Yeah, the elite four did that. Anyway, he wanted revenge for what the elite four did to him and his Pokémon, so he went to fight them again, and this time, he won, using just four of his Pokémon; one for each member of the elite four." Green finished.

"So where is he now?" Gary asked.

"Where he has been for the past two years; at the peak of Mt. Silver." Green replied sadly. Dawn snapped her head up at the mention of Mt. Silver.

"Wait, before the whole incident with Ash, he went up to Mt. Silver to battle a really tough trainer. This trainer is responsible for killing Pikachu! He's the reason why Ash is avoiding us!" Dawn exclaimed, anger rising with each passing second. How could Green be friends with a trainer so cruel?

"So that's what happened?" Green muttered, too quiet for anyone to hear.

"I was at the gym one day, when my friend sent his Charizard to get me. I met him on Mt. Silver, where he told me to look out for Ash Ketchum, saying he didn't want Ash to make the same mistake he did!" He explained.

"But, if this trainer is responsible for killing Pikachu, why is he so concerned about what happens to Ash? For that matter, why in the world would he kill Pikachu?" Gary asked, growing as angry as Dawn. Green sighed sadly.

"He wasn't always like this. After he became champion and beat the elite four, something terrible happened, and he ran away. He dedicated the rest of his life to training on Mt. Silver. Over time, he became as cold as the mountain…" he said sadly. Gary glanced ahead, spotting the edge of the forest growing out of the horizon.

"We have to find Ash. This is why he's doing all of this. He's out to get revenge!" Gary finally realised what was happening.

"Oh no…" Green muttered.

"Gary, if they battle…No, we have to find Ash and stop him before it's too late!" Green said, fixing his eyes on the approaching forest. A deathly silence befell the trio, as they continued their dread filled walk towards the forest.

…

"Alright Charizard, let's try again. Use Solarbeam!" Ash ordered. Charizard stood in the centre of the small clearing Ash lead him to, deeper into the forest. They had left the others to train whilst they carried out their own special training. Charizard concentrated on the sun beating down on his skin, warming his body up from its warm touch. The dragon focused on absorbing the sunlight, allowing the rays to pass through his orange skin, and after several seconds, Charizard roared and fired a weak beam of light from his throat, which vanished into the thick forest on the other side of the clearing.

"Great Charizard! Now we need to focus on putting more power into the attack. Absorb as much sunlight as you can in as short a time as you can." The trainer was pleased with Charizards progress. They had only begun learning the move a few hours ago, and Charizard could already fire, albeit a weak beam of light, but it was still astounding progress for the fire and flying type. Ash watched as the dragon sucked in more sunlight, its eyes closed in deep concentration. After a few more seconds, the determination filled orbs snapped open, and Charizard opened his jaws, as a bright light began manifesting in his throat. Charizard fired the beam of light, and this time it was a little stronger than before, as it powered into the dark forest.

"Good work Charizard. Keep practising. I'll go check on the others," Ash praised, before he turned around and began walking off into the darkness of the trees, only one thought on his mind. As soon as he finished training, he would head up Mt. Silver, and finally face the trainer in red.

After ten or so minutes of walking, Ash emerged in the brightly lit clearing where his other Pokémon were hard at work training. Pidgeot and Latias were sparring, and every now and then an orb of draconic energy would fly across the clearing as it missed its target due to Pidgeot's elegant flying.

Tyranitar was still powering around the edge of the clearing, and after several hours of constant running the rock and dark type seemed to be more agile than when he first started, although he was starting to tire, as beads of sweat dripped down his face, past his panting mouth.

Finally, Garchomp was stood, eyes closed and deep in concentration. Ash could see heat waves radiate from the land sharks body, as the dragon and ground type focused on converting draconic energy into heat energy. After a few seconds, Garchomp opened his mouth and a few embers spat out, leaping into the grass below. The mach Pokémon huffed in frustration, before closing his eyes and trying again.

Suddenly, a beam of bright light tore through the trees and into the clearing, shooting straight through to the other side and hiding back in the trees on the other side. The sheer power of the attack caused everyone to stop and look, as it mysteriously appeared. A thudding sound could be heard in the trees, as something stomped its way towards the clearing.

Instinctively, all four of Ash's Pokémon charged in front of the trainer protectively. Garchomp growled, before he barked into the trees threateningly. Still, the thudding came closer. Latias fanned out her psychic senses, wanting to know more about the intruder, and after a few seconds, the tense dragoness eased up, smiling happily.

She turned to her trainer, nodding her head and smiling, trying to tell Ash it was ok. The trainer didn't understand, and nervously turned back to the thudding noise, as it came closer. A familiar roar cried through the trees, just as the beast emerged from the darkness, stunning everyone except Latias.

"C-Charizard, was that attack your Solarbeam?" Ash stuttered. The fire and flying type nodded proudly, smirking as the other Pokémon relaxed and returned to their training, with the exception of Latias who wanted to find out what was going on. Charizard crossed his arms, smiling proudly at the trainer. Ash returned the smile, before a look of complete seriousness overtook his face.

"That was excellent Charizard. You learnt Solarbeam a lot quicker than I expected. But the real training starts here," he said, eyeing the dragon for his reaction. Charizard frowned in confusion, but waited for his trainer to speak again.

"I wanted you to learn Solarbeam because it would make learning _this_ a lot easier," he continued. Charizard still frowned in confusion; what was _this _supposed to be? Did Ash want him to learn a new attack? But what attack could the fire and flying type learn that utilised sunlight? The dragon couldn't learn any other grass type moves, and the dragon already knew how to use sunny day, since that's how he could charge up Solarbeam so quickly despite only just learning it.

"Charizard, your ability, blaze, is tremendously strong, and the fact that it's anger triggered makes it even stronger. But we need to increase your power even more. That's why you're learning a new ability." The flame Pokémon stared in shock at the trainer, whilst Latias cocked her head in confusion. Was Ash seriously expecting Charizard to learn another ability? The fire and flying type huffed in protest, shaking his head simultaneously. There's no way Charizard could learn another ability, it was physically impossible.

"You will learn another ability, and you will be able to use both at the same time. I have full faith in you Charizard." Ash encouraged. Charizard looked like it wanted to protest, but found himself unable to. To tell the truth, the flame Pokémon wanted to see if it could actually learn two abilities. It was true on rare occasion that a Pokémon learns a secondary ability, but it was completely unheard of for a Charizard to have two abilities. And how exactly could he learn an ability? Every Pokémon was hatched with an ability, not taught them.

Ash continued, smiling at the orange dragon. "Charizard, get ready for some serious training. The ability you're going to learn is Solar power."

…

The dimension of time, a vast, empty area of space, with nothing but swirling clouds of pure energy manifesting in every available space. This dimension was governed by a lone Pokémon, the very same Pokémon who was responsible for ensuring time flowed smoothly throughout the universe. The legendary deity patrolled this dimension endlessly, destined to wander this realm for eternity.

Once, several years ago, the dimension came into contact with another and the two deities fought over territory, each unknowingly destroying time and space in a certain area of the world. The distortion ripples surged through into another dimension, angering the ruler of the reverse world. The three legendary deities caused destruction accidentally, and finally united when the alpha fought against humanity.

The three didn't know of the other's presence until their fateful encounter, and this encounter was never meant to happen. The dimensions of time and space separated, and the governors continued roaming their dimensions in peace.

It was all they knew, to govern their respective dimension and keep balance in the universe. The deity of time thought this as it continued roaming its perfect dimension. For some unforeseen reason, the time Pokémon couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to go horribly wrong in the not too distant future.

The Pokémon controlled time, but she could not see events waiting to happen. The dragoness thought about the opposite deity, the deity of space. Was he feeling this unrest? And what about the ruler of the reverse world, did he feel this way too?

The Pokémon had to know what was happening, and she could think of only one being in existence who would know. She had to visit the Alpha, and settle her unrest. Dialga exerted a powerful force, which ripped though the fabric of the dimension she was in.

The dragon flew through this tear in her dimension, emerging in the empty region of the universe; the region of space that followed no laws of physics. Time didn't flow, space didn't move, there was nothing but blackness in the dimension between dimensions.

The dragon flew through this vast empty region, tearing a hole through the nothingness she was in, before disappearing into the Alphas dimension, seeking the hall of origin.

* * *

**I'll honestly say I wasn't too happy with this chapter. I think I could do a much better job than I did here, but I've kept you waiting long enough so here it is. Again, this is more of a plot advancing chapter, helping me set up for the later chapters.  
And now Dialga has been brought into the story. Will she find what she seeks at the Hall of Origin?  
Wait, Ash is going to teach Charizard two abilities?! Is that even possible?! In this fic it is certainly possible, so It's going to happen! :P  
And finally the truth about what happened between Ash and Red has been revealed.  
...Nothing more to say, really. Hope you enjoyed it.  
Until next time,  
Trainer Theta**


	24. The Ability

**Hello, hello! Welcome all to chapter 23! The inevitable clash is nearing, can the others reach Ash in time to stop his crazy plan? Read and find out! As usual, thanks to HollowKU, Kimmy-1016, EliteLuther, Necron Dragon Lord of D.A and Imperishable Soul. Also, a special shout-out to OnlyNeeded151 and kazikamikaze24. And of course, thanks to anyone who reviews. Keep me happy by writing more :D**

* * *

The sunlight drenched the clearing in a warm glow, as the beast in the centre focused on absorbing the rays. After learning Solarbeam, the dragon could easily absorb sunlight as fast as a Venusaur, but that wasn't the tricky part.

The fire and flying type continued absorbing sunlight, until it reached its limit; the point where the energy is released in the form of an attack, but under strict instructions, Charizard held the energy in its body. The flame Pokémon began glowing from the sheer amount of energy it had absorbed.

"Great Charizard, focus on turning the energy into power without releasing it," Ash instructed. Charizard nodded, gritting his teeth. It was harder than he initially thought to keep this much energy stored in his body for this length of time.

Following instructions, Charizard began channelling the energy to every cell in his body, converting the energy into power, until it was too much energy to cope with and the dragon released the energy into the surroundings. The shockwaves knocked Ash off his feet as they surged powerfully into the trees. Charizard huffed in annoyance; he was so close, but he still couldn't hold the energy.

Latias helped Ash to his feet, and the trainer stood there, thinking. The flame Pokémon almost had it, he could easily absorb sunlight, but he couldn't contain the energy in his body. For the ability to work, the energy had to travel through every part of the fire and flying type to give him strength.

"Latias, I want to try something. Charizard can't hold all that energy in his body, so what if you held it instead?" Latias cocked her head in confusion.

"When Charizard absorbs enough sunlight, I want you to use Psychic on him, so the sunlight energy can't escape," Ash ordered. Latias looked at Charizard, concerned over this plan. The flame Pokémon merely nodded his head, trusting Latias.

The dragoness sighed, before reluctantly nodding her head; she didn't want to hurt Charizard by using Psychic on him, but if it was the only way to learn this ability, then she had to try. Charizard closed his eyes, absorbing the sunlight beating down on his skin. After a few seconds, his eyes snapped open, and the dragon turned to Latias. The Eon Pokémon used Psychic on Charizard, focusing more on keeping the attack up rather than power.

Charizard winced as he felt the psychic energies bombard his brain cells, but shrugged off the pain as he began focusing on the energy from the sunlight. The fire and flying type began to glow brightly from the sheer energy surging through his body, but thanks to Latias' Psychic, the energy didn't escape his body.

After a minute, Charizard stopped glowing, and with a quick swipe of his claws, the fire type tore through the psychic barrier surrounding him, startling both Latias and Ash. Charizard's tail fire was burning brighter than normal, and the flame Pokémon was panting as his health was sapped away to keep the ability active.

"Great Charizard! You did it! You learnt a new ability!" Ash yelled excitedly. Latias smiled, happy that his trainer was so excited. It gave the dragoness hope that the old Ash was still there somewhere. Charizard smiled proudly, releasing the excess energy from his body to stop the newly learnt ability.

"That's awesome, I'm so proud of you Charizard. And you too Latias. Now, we need to focus on containing the energy, so Charizard, keep trying to use the ability without Latias' help." Charizard nodded, and Latias returned to her trainers' side.

"Come on Latias, let's check on the others," Ash said, leading Latias back into the trees in search of the other Pokémon training hard.

…

"Alright Garchomp, let's see Flamethrower." With the command, Garchomp opened his mouth, as a thick ball of flames began manifesting at the back of his throat. With one powerful breath, the dragon fired a jet of fire that leapt through the air, over to the other side of the clearing before dispersing into the breeze as embers. Garchomp stood grinning proudly, as Ash patted him on the shoulder.

"Great work Garchomp," Ash praised.

"Tyranitar, show us your speed," he said, turning to the rock armour Pokémon. Tyranitar walked to the edge of the clearing, and without warning, charged off, circling the clearing. His speed had definitely increased, considering the sheer weight of the Pokémon, and he could now run at a fairly decent speed. Once Tyranitar finished his lap around the clearing, he returned to Ash, panting slightly from overexertion, but with a wide grin on his face.

"Excellent Tyranitar. You've gotten a whole lot faster," Ash smiled, before turning to Pidgeot. The avian had been working on her defence with Latias, up until Latias left with Ash to train Charizard.

"Pidgeot, have you gotten any stronger?" Ash asked, in which the flying type nodded hastily, eager to show off her improvements. She turned to Latias, smirking at the dragoness. She stretched out a wing, beckoning to the confused eon Pokémon.

"D'you want to battle Latias?" Ash asked. Pidgeot nodded, and with a quick flap of her wings, she flew off to the far side of the clearing. Garchomp and Tyranitar walked behind Ash, wanting to observe the battle, whilst Latias flew in front of the trainer, staring blankly at her opponent.

"Alright, let's start, Latias use Dragon pulse," Ash ordered. Latias began manifesting draconic energy between her jaws, before exhaling a small ball of potent energy. The ball shot across the clearing, straight towards Pidgeot, who merely stood there, smirking confidently. Just as the ball was about to hit, the avian shielded herself using her enormous wings, and the ball exploded on impact with the soft feathers. Pidgeot lowered her wings, squawking proudly; the attack didn't even scratch her! Ash smiled, impressed with just how much his Pokémon had grown in such a little time.

"Latias use mist ball," the trainer commanded. Extending her claws, Latias began gathering psychic energies, and a ball of mist materialised between her claws. With a quick push, she fired the ball, and the ball exploded into a cloud of psychic mist when it reached Pidgeot's side. The flying type squawked in pain, as the psychic energy sapped some of her health away.

"Use Safeguard on Pidgeot," Ash muttered, wanting to test the avian further. Latias' eyes began glowing a psychic blue, and before Pidgeot could even move, a box materialized around the avian, trapping her inside the psychic mist that was continually sapping away more and more of her health. Grunting in pain, Pidgeot charged up a steel wing attack, and with one swipe, tore straight through the Safeguard, flying to safety to avoid any further damage. After rising further into the sky, Pidgeot flapped her wings powerfully, creating a gust of wind that tore across the field.

"Stop." Pidgeot cancelled the attack, staring at her trainer confused as the powerful gust of wind died down into a gentle breeze. The avian returned to Ash, noticing Latias had the same look of confusion adorning her face.

"I wanted to test your skills Pidgeot, and you did really well. I'm proud of you. And you too of course, Latias," he said. The two smiled at the praise, congratulating each other on their efforts in the battle.

"Take a break, you guys. You've earned it." Pidgeot, Tyranitar and Garchomp wandered off to the centre of the clearing, talking amongst each other in poke-speech.

"Latias, come with me. I want to check on Charizard," Ash said, walking into the forest in pursuit of the fire and flying type, Latias in tow. After half an hour or so of walking, Ash began hearing growls emanating from the clearing just ahead of them; it sounded as if Charizard was talking to someone, but who? Ash emerged through the tree-line, spotting Charizard immediately.

"Hey buddy, what's wrong?" He asked, but Charizard seemed pre-occupied. He was staring across the clearing, growling under his breath. Ash turned his head, and immediately spotted a second Charizard, this one being much larger than his. Before he could question, the Charizard beat its powerful wings and took off, flying into the distant sunset.

"What was that all about?" he muttered, as he, Charizard and Latias watched the newcomer retreat, becoming a small dot in mere seconds.

"Come on Charizard. I want to test your new ability in a real battle, and I know the perfect opponent," Ash said, walking into the thick forest to the side of the clearing and towards the towering figure of Mt. Silver, Charizard and Latias following closely.

* * *

Deep within the thickest part of the forest, the area that the sunlight failed to penetrate due to the cover of the enormous mountain towering above, a shadowy Pokémon snapped open its eyes. He could sense the presence of a human nearby, as well as some very powerful Pokémon. In his mind's eye, this human seemed familiar, but the entity couldn't remember how.

He thought back to his last encounter with humans; that familiar girl, Dawn and her companion. She had mentioned another boy, Ash was his name. This name sounded familiar, as he replayed remnants of his memories in his mind, thinking back to that boy with the Pikachu. His aura was so strong, so powerful; he was easily distinguishable to any Pokémon with the ability to read auras. Darkrai was one such Pokémon.

The human stalking around his forest exerted the same aura, a powerful unseen force, yet it seemed different. It seemed cold and harsh, much like the trainer that desecrated his home with the corpse of the electric type. Darkrai closed his eyes, piecing together the fragments that swirled around his mind. No matter how he thought about it, he kept coming up with the same word: Ash.

This human definitely held some significance in his previous life, but what? He had felt the presence of a human enter the forest late last night, and he'd been invading Darkrai's subconscious ever since. The shadowy Pokémon had sifted through the same memories hundreds of times in the past few hours, trying to solve the riddle that plagued his mind.

Footsteps. He could hear them approaching from the left. He could make out two distinct sets of footsteps, one light, and another heavy. Darkrai tensed, watching the trees cautiously, ready to make the first attack if necessary. He could see a flickering light, as if someone was carrying a naked flame through the dark trees. Darkrai watched carefully, as the light grew brighter and brighter as the footsteps grew near, breaking tree branches and crunching fallen leaves neglected by the sun. The Nightmare was sure of one thing: one of those pairs of footsteps belonged to a human. Could this be the very same human who had been stalking around his forest since the early hours of the morning?

A bush rustled in front of Darkrai, as a figure emerged from the darkness, dressed in a blue hoodie with matching blue jeans. Atop his head was a jungle of hair, defying gravity as the messy locks stretched towards the sky. His face seemed very familiar, but the coldness present in his eyes did not. From behind the boy, a large orange dragon emerged into Darkrai's sight, and after a quick glance at its tail, the nightmare discovered the source of the flickering light. Finally, a small red and white dragon emerged, looking slightly scared but retaining her cool. Darkrai knew the Pokémon immediately; Charizard, the ferocious fire and flying type, and the mysterious Eon dragon, Latias.

"Hello Darkrai," Ash greeted. Darkrai stared in bewilderment at the trainer; how was it possible that the human knew his name? Flashes of a familiar town swept through his mind, and once again he saw time and space colliding, destroying anything that stood in their way. Then he saw him; climbing a spiralling tower, the boy and his Pikachu were desperately running to the top, whilst the battle between the deities continued.

"Ash?" Darkrai's grizzly voice echoed through the trainers mind, making him smile.

"So you do remember me," Ash said, still with a smile on his face. Darkrai nodded slowly, remembering more and more of his previous life in Alamos town.

"I have a special request to make Darkrai," Ash started, shattering Darkrai's memories as reality returned to his mind.

"Request?" the shadow echoed, confused.

"I'd like to battle you, to test Charizard's new ability." Ash continued, beckoning Charizard to step forward. The fire and flying type roared, challenging Darkrai with a smirk adorning his dragon-like face. Darkrai seemed lost in a world of his own, as he thought about the strange request. Never before had a human ventured into his den and challenged him to a battle.

He remembered the boy who came in the dead of night to bury his deceased Pokémon; Darkrai couldn't get a clear view of the boy's face from the frantic battle he had with the continent Pokémon Torterra, but somehow, his aura seemed familiar to Ash's. Darkrai nodded his head, before floating off to the other side of the field, awaiting the challenger. Ash walked a few steps behind Charizard, making sure he was well away from the battle, and Latias floated next to him.

"Let's start. Charizard use Sunny day!" Ash commanded, starting first. Charizard fired a ball of fire into the air, which tore through the canopy of leaves above, burning them to a crisp, allowing the sunlight to filter through. The ball rose higher, until it disappeared into the clouds. As if by magic, the clouds dispersed as the sunlight intensified, casting a scorching glow down on the makeshift battlefield. Darkrai grunted in annoyance; being a dark type, he hated sunlight.

"Alright Charizard, remember, focus on containing the energy to activate the ability," Ash instructed. Charizard closed his eyes, feeling the sun beat down on him, warming his skin. His body began glowing from the sunlight energy pumping through his body.

After a few seconds, he felt a great urge to release the energy, but kept it contained as Ash instructed. Charizard snapped open his eyes, feeling the power burn inside him, giving him new found strength. His tail flame grew brighter, stronger, and bigger, like a miniature sun. He roared proudly, spitting an extremely powerful flame high into the air; his training had paid off. Solar power activated.

Darkrai stared, slightly intimidated by the orange dragon as it powered up thanks to its ability. This was going to be a hard opponent to beat. Nonetheless, Darkrai made the next move, as he extended his arms out in front of him, gathering dark type energy which formed between his hands in a ring shape. With one quick swing, Darkrai fired the ring, which pulsed through the air towards Charizard.

"Flamethrower." Charizard reared his head back, before expelling a torrent of blindingly bright flames across the field. As the Dark pulse neared, Charizard's flames tore through the pulse, dissipating it into the surroundings as the flamethrower grew nearer to Darkrai. The Nightmare Pokémon, too shocked at being countered so easily, merely waited for the attack to hit. The flames washed over the dark type, as he screamed in pain at the searing flames, now with 1.5x extra damage thanks to Solar power.

Darkrai felt as if he'd just been thrown into a volcano. Nonetheless, he spread his arms apart, slicing the air in front of him with a claw embodied with ghostly energy. The shadow claw tore through the flames, landing an inevitable hit on Charizard and knocking the beast back, cancelling out the flamethrower. Charizard growled lowly, awaiting his trainer's next command.

"Steel wing." Charizard stood up straight, channelling the steel type energy into his wings, solidifying the appendages to resemble two blades of the strongest steel. However, before Charizard could even take flight, Darkrai launched a counter attack, firing another pulse of dark aura which swept across the field in mere seconds. The attack took Charizard by surprise, and knocked the dragon to his side, grunting in pain. Gritting his teeth, Charizard stood up once more, facing Darkrai with an angry glare.

"Flamethrower," Ash ordered the next attack, not seeming concerned in the slightest. Charizard spat a torrent of searing hot flames, boosted by Solar power as the sun continued glaring down through the forest foliage into the clearing. Darkrai stretched an arm out, swiping the air to his side, as his claw crackled with more ghostly energy. Before the flamethrower even reached halfway across the clearing, the shadow claw connected with Charizard's chin, knocking him back painfully and cancelling the flamethrower.

The fire and flying type stomped his feet into the ground, stabilising himself, before turning to look at Darkrai with a glare filled with the utmost hatred. Charizard roared loudly, feeling the anger wash over him, increasing his strength even more. His tail flame grew even brighter, burning brighter than a block of magnesium as Charizard powered up even more; Blaze had just been activated. Ash smirked, content that his plan had worked.

"Great job Charizard. You're using two abilities at once. Very impressive," Ash complimented. Charizard kept his angry glare fixed on Darkrai, who was now squirming uncomfortably; Charizard was strong enough without a single ability active, and now he had two power boosting abilities active simultaneously?! Was that even possible?

The nightmare didn't want to find out. Wasting no time, Darkrai charged up his trump card; a ball of dark energy gathered on the palm of his hand, and with one quick swing, Darkrai flung the Dark void towards Charizard. Everyone watched as the ball neared its target, until miraculously, Charizard swiped with a claw at incredible speeds, dissipating the ball into the surroundings. Darkrai glanced at Charizard, spotting the demonic grin on the flame Pokémon's face.

"Time to end this. Flare blitz." Charizard immediately rose into the air as a fiery aura surrounded him. After a second or two, the aura washed over the Pokémon, transforming the dragon into a fire ball. Charizard charged across the clearing at amazing speeds, as the flames surrounding him burned bright blue. Darkrai didn't have enough time to dodge or even counter, so did the only thing he could do; he raised his arms in front of his face, hoping to null the impact.

The speeding bullet came faster and faster, and just before the collision; Darkrai could've sworn he heard a cackling laughter emanate from within the attack. Then it was over; with a bright flash of light, Charizard collided with Darkrai, exploding on impact. The flames shot high into the air, illuminating the evening sky with a fiery glow.

The sheer force of the explosion was enough to force Latias to raise a hasty Safeguard to protect herself as well as her trainer. The shockwaves shot through the forest, bending the trees in the violent wind which threatened to drag them out of the ground. From inside the explosion, Charizard swooped out, heavily bruised but grinning broadly at the sheer power he possessed. It took a full minute for the shockwaves to die down. Latias lowered the Safeguard when the last remnants of the explosion washed over them.

"I think you might have overdone it a little…" Ash muttered, to which Charizard chuckled proudly to himself. Ash glanced across the clearing, or what remained after the explosion, and spotted Darkrai lying on the floor, knocked out cold. He wandered over to the nightmare Pokémon, kneeling down besides Darkrai as Latias and Charizard followed him over.

"He'll be fine after a bit of rest. Come on, let's go get the others," Ash said, standing up before walking back to the tree line, Latias and Charizard in tow.

* * *

"Ash! Where are you? Ash!" Dawn yelled for the hundredth time as she, Gary and Green wandered through the dense forest searching for the young boy. When no response came, she lowered her head in sadness.

"Let's face it, we're never going to find him," she said sadly. The brothers continued walking in silence, watching for any sign of the trainer. They'd been in the forest for a couple of hours, and so far, not a single indication as to where Ash could be.

Suddenly, a large explosion tore through the sky, the noise rocketing through the trees, being carried by the violent wind which suddenly arose. The sky ahead lit up with a fireball, soaring through the air. Gary pulled Dawn to the ground to escape the powerful blast of wind, while Green endured it, standing defiantly against the whipping winds. After a minute, the wind died down, and Gary pulled Dawn to her feet, cautious of any more blasts.

"What was that?" Dawn asked. Green looked towards the sky, spotting the still visible cloud of smoke from the previous explosion.

"I think Ash has just found his target," he said, before walking towards the plume of smoke, Gary and Dawn following closely. Up ahead, Green could see a flickering light, as if something was on fire. Using the light as a beacon, the trio pushed further and further through the foliage, climbing over debris that was blown away from the powerful blast of wind. Ahead, the light grew closer and closer, until they stepped out into a clearing. Several patches of grass had been ignited, probably from the explosion. That would explain the flickering light. Debris was littering the clearing, as the six eyes scanned the area.

"Over there," Gary said, pointing to a shadowy creature lying on the floor. The trio rushed towards it, and Gary knelt down next to it, rolling it over to examine it for injuries. As soon as Gary caught a glimpse of the blood red collar and the crystal blue eyes, he recognised the creature immediately.

"Darkrai," Dawn muttered, recognising the Pokémon too. Green looked confused, as it stared at the knocked out Pokémon.

"But if this is Darkrai, where's Ash?" he asked. Gary pulled out an orange bottle, which Green recognised as a super potion, before he began spraying it on Darkrai's wounds.

"It was definitely Ash who did this. Only an extremely powerful fire type could cause this much damage," Gary said as he continued to treat the downed Pokémon.

"Charizard." Dawn answered.

"But why hurt Darkrai? Why not catch him? If he's assembling a powerful team, why didn't he catch Darkrai? Unless…"

"Unless he already had a full team," Gary finished Green's sentence. Satisfied with his work, Gary stood up, pocketing the empty bottle of super potion, before fishing out a small device. After pressing several buttons, he held it to his ear.

"Gramps? It's me. Listen, I need you to pull up Ash's latest catch…Really? Okay, thanks." He returned the device to his pocket, before turning to Green.

"His last catch is still registered to Tyranitar," he said. The young professor was starting to get annoyed at this wild chase Ash had them on.

"Well, what if his last Pokémon isn't in a pokeball. He knows we're looking at his Pokedex all the time, so maybe he didn't catch his last member," Dawn answered. The brothers nodded simultaneously; it seemed like a pretty reasonable explanation.

"So now what?" Gary asked, leading the trio into silence.

"Now, we go to Mt. Silver. It's time I payed a visit to an old friend," Green finally said, before leading them back into the trees, and towards the towering silhouette of Mt. Silver.

* * *

The dimension of Space, a vast empty region, separated from the other known dimensions. The lone Pokémon flew through the dimension, governing space; an important task. Only once had the Pokémon left his dimension; a clash that was never supposed to happen. Time and space fought for territory, before the creature of the reverse world stepped in.

The dragon had felt strange recently, and despite space flowing smoothly throughout the dimensions, he still felt as if something was about to go wrong. He thought about the other legendary deities, whether they were feeling this unrest.

With one quick swipe of his powerful claws, Palkia tore a hole through his dimension, flying straight through the rift into the empty region of space. Time didn't flow. Space didn't churn. There was nothing in this dark abyss. Luckily for the deity, he wouldn't be staying here for long.

With another quick swipe, Palkia created a rift into another dimension, not hesitating to charge through into the scarcely known area of the universe. The only way he would be able to settle the sinking feeling he felt, he would have to get answers, and the only place he could think of was the Hall of Origin. The Alpha would tell him everything he needed to know.

* * *

**Yes, the ending is similar to the previous chapter. Why? Because I made it so, that's why :P**

**So Charizard can now use two abilities! That thing is a tank! Not even Darkrai could stand a chance against it!**

**A review has convinced me to stress the following point: Shipping will NOT be an important part of the story. I have hinted at several ships throughout, but character shipping is the least of my priorities for this fic. This is meant to be an adventure story, not a romance. I will continue hinting at certain shippings throughout, but they will not be my main focus for this story (at least not for now. I might change my mind in later chapters). **

**Rant over with, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I had a lot of fun writing the battle part, I hope it lives up to your expectations!**

**Until next time,  
**

**Trainer Theta**


	25. The Mountain

**Guess what? It's here! Weeeeeeeeeeeeee! And have I got a treat for you :D As usual thanks goes to Imperishable Soul, HollowKU, Kimmy-1016, Necron Dragon Lord of D.A, OnlyNeeded151 (happy birthday by the way!), and EliteLuther. Also, just a quick shout out to Moonstone blaze. Thanks for all the reviews :)**

**IMPORTANT: Read the bottom A/N for some important news regarding this fic and its update schedule. Don't forget to read and review :)**

* * *

With a deep sigh, the raven haired boy took the first step into the darkness of the cave mouth, being consumed by the harsh mountain as the trainer began his long climb upwards. He'd navigated plenty of times through the harsh terrain, but still couldn't remember the way. It was like a labyrinth of rock, which taunted anyone foolish enough to attempt to navigate the seemingly endless maze. The wild Pokémon in this area were some of the most vicious known, meaning that anyone foolhardy enough to venture through this treacherous terrain would have to bring some pretty strong Pokémon.

Learning his lesson from the last time, Ash brought a light source with him, in the form of the large orange dragon; his tail flame flickering endlessly as the shallow wind whistled through the cave. The flame penetrated through the darkness in a fairly large radius, at least allowing Ash to travel without bumping into anything.

Latias was hovering, invisible, closely to Ash, feeling the cold chill of the darkness biting at her vulnerable body; being a dragon, the cold came as a bit of a nasty shock to the eon. Nonetheless, Latias remained composed, closely following her trainer, as well as the heat-radiating fire and flying type; Charizard looked ahead with an excited expression on his face. Ash had been telling him just what they had been training for: a fight with a really tough opponent who somehow had a connection to Pikachu's disappearance.

That's all the information he managed to extract from his trainer, before Ash fell in a pit of sadness, being comforted only by a hug from the concerned eon dragon, to which Charizard couldn't help but feel amused by. In the short time he'd been reunited with his trainer, Charizard could already tell that Latias liked Ash a whole lot more than on a friendship level. The problem was if the ever dense Ash could return her feelings.

Nonetheless, the dragon looked ahead, smirking excitedly. It impressed Ash just how much Charizard liked to fight, especially when faced with a tough challenge such as taking on Green and Gary simultaneously on his own; and according to Ash, the trainer they were about to fight was even tougher than the two brothers combined. Charizard couldn't help but feel excited about the battle.

Latias on the other hand, was extremely nervous. She'd been monitoring Ash's dreams for the past couple of weeks, and what she saw scared the dragoness to death. Each and every dream Ash had was about this trainer, and each and every dream involved death, be it human or Pokémon. Clearly this trainer had mentally scarred Ash severely; the real problem was if Ash would ever be able to get over it. Latias knew personally how painful it was to lose a loved one; she still had nightmares about the two team rocket thugs who killed her poor brother. One could forgive, but they could never forget. In both Ash's and Latias' case, it was nearly impossible to forgive.

A loud roar echoed through the came, being carried by the wind in the opposite direction to where they were walking. Ash tensed, scanning the gloomy surroundings, for any sign of movement. Latias extended her psychic reach as far as she could, managing to penetrate a small percentage of the monstrous cave. What she saw in her mind's eye was enough to raise concern with her tense trainer. She prodded him gently, earning his attention, and the group stopped moving. Ash glanced in her eyes, allowing Latias to transmit her feelings through the amber orbs displaying immense fear. The young eon was still too underdeveloped to fully utilize her telepathic abilities, but she could still transmit basic messages. In this case, Ash felt a great sense of fear, as the dragon was worried about something lying on the road ahead; _'most probably whatever made that roaring noise' _Ash thought.

"Stay close you two, we could have a problem," Ash said grimly, trying to fully understand Latias' feelings. Charizard huffed arrogantly; the orange dragon had beaten two legendary Pokémon and came close to beating a third, what challenge could possibly present itself that could actually be a cause for concern for the over-confident fire and flying type?

Latias merely nodded, keeping her psychic extended, focusing on the hostile aura that loomed ahead. With the team Ash had at his disposal, she was sure that whatever threat lay ahead would be no match if it even dared interfere. Still, the eon couldn't help but feel scared. Maybe it was the darkness of the cave, or the cold harsh atmosphere that was smothering them. Whatever it was, she didn't know, and quite frankly, she didn't care. She kept her psychic senses locked on the terrain ahead as the group ploughed further on up the mountain and towards Ash's greatest challenge yet.

* * *

The lone creature flew through the twisted skies, weaving in between warped buildings and clouds of toxic gas. The shadowy Pokémon stopped when it reached a mirror, showing a very clear image of a boy, a very familiar boy, and his Charizard and Latias. The fact that the boy had the legendary dragon was enough concern for the renegade Pokémon, but for some reason, she was feeling this unease much before the boy had caught the eon dragon.

Giratina had been watching Ash's progress ever since he fought with that trainer atop Mt. Silver, and the dragon had grown increasingly concerned over the young boy who proved to be a great friend, even risking his own life to save the ghost and dragon type. Unlike the other two deities, Giratina had the ability to observe the physical realm; it was her job to keep that realm intact using her reverse world to retain balance.

She watched as each member of Ash's team had been caught, and while it was worrying to see the boy collect this "ultra team" of Pokémon, Giratina began to feel queasy the minute she laid her demonic eyes on the mysterious trainer clad in red.

Letting out a hiss, she continued her plight through the reverse world, dodging a slow drifting could of toxins; her long, snake-like body easily weaving through the air as the thin black wings, three on either side of her serpentine body, propelled her through the air.

If anyone else was in the reverse world, they would be able to easily distinguish this Pokémon from any other in existence. Her long, multicoloured body was a dead giveaway. The dragon emitted a ghostly feel simply by being in her presence. The red and black striped body stood in stark contrast with the grey scales lining her sides and back, while the three golden rings on her long neck completed the eerie feel this Pokémon exuded.

It would be foolish for anyone to try and disturb this Pokémon. Yet one person had attempted, and it nearly cost the dragon her life. If it weren't for Ash, the mad man would have harnessed all of her life energy for his strange machine, and he would have run the reverse world as if it was his own.

She hissed violently at the memory of the foolish human, her coal-black wings swaying in the air current she was in. The blood red tips were pointing out dangerously, threatening anyone foolhardy enough to challenge her.

Despite being the only living soul within the reverse world, Giratina didn't let up appearances. Maybe this was how she looked naturally; deadly and ready to take down anything that stood in her way. During her brief visits to the physical realm, she heard whispers of humans ignorant enough to call her the devil. Since her first appearance in that realm, a fight with the deity of time, several humans had spotted her, and despite her deathly appearance, their knowledge of her scared the dragon.

It was her sworn duty to govern the reverse world, ensuring that it stayed in perfect synch with the physical realm. This crucial task was set by the Alpha itself, after Giratina became enraged at one of her fellow legendaries regarding territory. Her violent rampage convinced Arceus that Giratina should be the one to govern the reverse world; keeping the renegade Pokémon out of trouble as well as ensuring the physical realm was properly managed by a powerful Pokémon.

Flying past yet another toxic cloud, Giratina came to an abrupt halt next to a mirror very similar to the previous one. The ominous mirror floated aimlessly in the air, allowing Giratina to view the physical realms from different perspectives. This mirror displayed a frigid mountain top which seemed to get closer. The snowflake drifted towards the snow-laden ground as Giratina continued to observe from its point of view.

Then she saw him, the trainer in red, and the same trainer that was the source of her unease. He stood there, watching the beautifully harsh mountain range below him with eyes cold enough to freeze the burning heart of the living volcano, Heatran. Giratina growled lowly, before flying swiftly past the mirror. She flew upwards, opening her mouth and firing an array of halos which merged in the empty space above. In an instant, a portal was created, allowing passage out of her dimension.

Unlike the other deities, Giratina could travel directly from place to place without having to visit the empty region of the universe. It came in handy when she wanted to get to other realms fast, such as this occasion. The renegade Pokémon was sure there was something off about that trainer in red, but she didn't know what. She did know of one being that was sure to know everything about this human. She flew into the ethereal realm, staring at the vast white space that lay ahead, in pursuit of the alpha.

* * *

"So, remind me why we didn't just teleport to the summit of Mt. Silver," Dawn huffed, climbing over more forest foliage as the group made their way towards the towering silhouette of the iconic mountain. Green sighed, whilst Gary shook his head, ready to explain it to the frustrated coordinator yet again.

"If we use teleport, we can't guarantee where we'll end up. Mt. Silver is huge, it'd be impossible to predict exactly where we'd arrive. Not to mention there are three of us, and if one of us get's separated in there, it'll take a long time to get together," Gary explained, a tone of boredom in his voice from explaining it over and over again.

"Yeah but Alakazam has teleported us more than once before, so why can't we teleport again?" She asked. This time it was Greens turn to answer.

"Two reasons. Firstly, Latias. That little dragon is powerful, despite being young. Ash will most likely have her out of her pokeball, meaning that her powerful psychic senses would detect us if we did teleport. Then she could just as easily teleport us away. And have you forgotten the psychic barrier Ash used? Not even our two Alakazams combined could match up to the sheer amount of energy required to make that barrier appear. We wouldn't stand a chance," he said rather glumly. They had been walking for hours, and it was really becoming a chore to place one leg in front of the other.

Dawn sighed, staring up at the mountain ahead. She really didn't feel like climbing that mountain, but if it was to stop Ash doing anything crazy and reckless, then she had no choice. For some reason, whenever she thought about the upcoming clash with this powerful trainer atop Mt. Silver, she felt as if something dreadful was about to happen. Honestly, she wasn't the only one. Both Green and Gary felt an overwhelming feeling of dread, especially now they knew the true power that the two trainers possessed.

"So Green, care to tell us more about this friend of yours?" Gary asked rather nonchalantly, as if he was just trying to keep the conversation rolling. To be truthful, Gary desperately wanted to know everything about this trainer, even what foods he ate. If they were going to stop this upcoming battle, they had to have all the information they could.

"Well, as you know, he was born in Pallet town. He's the same age as me, but he matured a lot slower," he said chuckling to himself at the memories that flashed across his mind.

"As much as I hated to admit it, he was always a better trainer than me. He just had the natural talent. Most people saw him as a typical kid, trying to catch pokemon and compete to be the best to claim a title that no single person had ever claimed. Only I saw him for who he really was: a powerful trainer. Heck, he's the first and only trainer to attain that title," Green continued. Gary looked confused, from what Green was describing, this trainer acted a lot like Ash. How in the world did a trainer like that end up mercilessly killing a trainers pokemon?

"What title did he get? Was he an elite four member? A champion?" Gary questioned. The trio fell in silence for a few seconds, both Dawn and Gary anxiously awaiting Green's response.

"Pokemon Master," Green uttered. Dawn looked up from the floor, staring questioningly at Green, who remained expressionless, staring at the pathway ahead.

"Excuse me? What title did he achieve?" Gary asked once more, refusing to believe his ears.

"Pokemon Master. He's the best of the best, and the only trainer ever to reach that rank. Others have tried, but he's unbeatable. He dedicates so much time to training, his pokemon are beyond legendary power," Green said, doing his best to keep a blank expression. In all honesty, he was proud that his best friend had become so powerful, but now wasn't the time to brag.

"I have a question: if you say he was just a kid when you were on your journey, how did he become so evil?" Dawn asked before Gary could protest Green. It actually worked in Gary's favour. He'd been wanting to ask the question, but didn't know the right way to bring it up. Green remained expressionless, continually staring at the path ahead as the group ploughed further towards Mt. Silver.

"He's not evil. And he definitely wasn't always like he is now. Something happened two years ago to change him for the worst. He became ruthless, cold, as cold as the mountain he lives on. But he isn't evil. He's anything but evil," he said, for the first time since the conversation started, he was sad.

"What happened?" Gary asked, prying for more information. If they could find the route of the problem, then they could solve it before anything terrible happened. Green sighed, keeping his eyes fixed on the pathway ahead.

"Team Rocket happened," he growled. Without saying another word, Green picked up speed, walking quicker towards the mountain, as if trying to escape the past.

"Come on, we have to get there quickly. Ash is probably already half way up the mountain," he called back as Gary and Dawn stumbled to keep up with Greens sudden change of pace.

* * *

Latias continued scanning the area ahead of them, keeping a mental eye on the near pitch black pathway that her trainer had dragged her down. She could still sense a large threat emanating from the road ahead, and every step they took, Latias flew closer and closer to her trainer. Charizard ambled forwards smugly; if there was anything ready to fight, Charizard would easily take it out.

A low growl suddenly emerged from a small crevice to their side of the large sloped cave, and the group slowed down cautiously. Latias desperately scanned the entire area for anything else, but the aura ahead hadn't moved a single inch. Wait, what about her side? She quickly swung her head, using her superior eyesight to see through the gloom of the cave, and in the small crevice to her side, she saw a pair of brown eyes glaring out of the darkness. Before she could make a noise, the Pokémon attacked, firing a ball of powerful fighting type energy straight towards her.

Thinking quickly, she turned to her trainer, who was still completely oblivious to the threat and charged into him, ploughing him out of the way of the attack. Charizard wasn't so fortunate: upon seeing his trainer tackled to the ground, he stopped walking, and the Focus blast charged straight into his side. The sheer force of the attack lifted the heavy dragon off his feet and slammed him into the opposite wall of the cave; a cloud of dust covering the impact.

"What was that?" Ash asked, getting up and turning to the source of the explosion. Charizard flew out of the dust, landing angrily on the floor with a loud thud. With a loud roar, he propelled a large jet of flames towards his unknown attacker, letting his rage power up blaze. A shriek of pain followed, and when Charizard finally cancelled the attack, the body of the attacker fell to the floor, clearly unconscious. Heat was still seeping out of the blackened fur of the unfortunate creature, as Ash and Latias wandered over to inspect further. Being lit by Charizards tail flame, the trainer could easily identify the Pokémon that lay below him.

"Ursaring," he muttered, clenching his teeth at Paul's Ursaring he fought so many times. They were known for their power, but weak defences. Latias glanced ahead, extending her psychic reach. After a few seconds, she found what she was looking for, only in a different place. The large aura she detected from earlier had moved. Unfortunately, it had moved closer to them. She nudged her trainer, gaining his attention, before she pointed a claw at the road ahead, casting a worried glance into the darkness.

"Charizard, we may have company. Be ready to attack," Ash warned the fire and flying type, who responded with a grunt. It was unusual to see a random Ursaring in the middle of Mt. Silver. Normally they lived in groups of three or four, so to find one on its own was unusual. What was even more unusual was the fact it had attacked them. Ursaring usually attack only when they've been provoked.

Casting away his thoughts, Ash continued walking, ploughing further up the mountain. Latias kept her psychic senses focused on the large aura that was moving closer and closer towards them. Unfortunately visibility was limited, so they wouldn't be able to identify their attacker until it was right next to them.

Several loud growls echoed across the cave, reverberating off the walls and into the ears of the startled trainer and his Pokémon. That sounded close, too close.

"Charizard use Sunny day ahead of us," Ash whispered. Charizard complied, and seconds later, the cave was flooded with light from a bright orb of fire type energy, acting as a miniature sun as it latched onto the ceiling above. Ash's eyes went wide in horror as he gazed at what was now clearly visible directly in front of him.

"Well, that explains the Ursaring…" he muttered. A dozen sets of eyes glared back at the trainer, as the Ursaring charged up their attacks.

"Psychic!" With a very hasty order from her trainer, Latias raised a barrier of concentrated energy, just as a dozen projectiles of fighting type energy surged forward from the group of angry Ursaring.

"Charizard, think you can battle on your own?" Ash asked, as Latias continued blocking the attacks continually pounding away at her psychic barrier. With a confident nod, Charizard roared loudly, attracting the attention of the wild Ursaring. Latias released her psychic, allowing the attack to flow in a pulse like motion, knocking over several Ursaring as Charizard charged up Solar power.

As the Ursaring staggered back to their feet, growling angrily, Ash and Latias retreated slightly to give Charizard some space. With this many Ursaring around an enclosed space such as a cave, it would be risky to stay in close.

Charizard unleashed a powerful flamethrower, scorching a couple of the Ursaring that didn't react in time to jump to safety or attempt to block the vicious flames. After the attack ended, several retaliation attacks came; a few Ursaring charged forward, their arms glowing with the power of Hammer arm, whilst a few more fired more volleys of Focus blast. Frantically dodging the orbs of fighting type energy, Charizard blocked two Ursaring's onslaught with his fists, as they glowed powerfully with fire type energy.

When a third charged forward, Charizard swung his whole body around, swiping at all three with his tail, knocking them off balance and sending them tumbling to the floor; then in one fluid motion, he finished his loop, unleashing another torrent of flames and sending those three to an early unconscious state. Just as the fire and flying type dispersed the powerful flames, one of the remaining Ursaring fired a potent beam of vicious energy straight towards Charizard. The flame Pokémon narrowly dodged the Hyper beam, retaliating with a quick fire spin and trapping the remaining bears in a fiery vortex.

But the Hyper beam didn't exactly miss. The attack shot straight into the wall, sending rock flying high into the air, cascading down through the entire cave. The roof of the cave began rumbling just as Ash glanced upwards. The fighting ceased, and the remaining Ursaring fled before they received any more damage. Charizard returned to his trainer, confused about the rumbling. A crack appeared in the ceiling, still being lit by the Sunny day, as the rumbling grew more violent.

Then a shower of rocks rained down, being pulled by gravity as the cave began collapsing. Without a single word, Ash, Latias and Charizard charged forward, dodging the falling rocks in sheer desperation to escape before they became encased in this rocky tomb. The roof ahead of them collapsed, blocking their only exit, as more and more of the cave began collapsing. Panicking, he turned to the equally scared Latias, thinking of the only thing that could save them.

"Teleport!" He yelled, just as the remainder of the cave collapsed.

* * *

"You all came here seeking answers. I'm afraid I must reject your search. For the answers you seek do not lie here," the alpha spoke to its deities. Dialga, Palkia and Giratina all gave cries of outrage, before the alpha began speaking once more.

"However, if the answers you seek correspond with current events that are transcribing as we speak, then you must seek them out in the physical realm," the god continued. The three deities looked among each other, all wondering the same thing: were the other two feeling the way they felt?

"You are all familiar with a trainer named Ash Ketchum. He has assisted all three of you, managing to cease the pointless conflicts you held over each other," Arceus said, interrupting the deities thoughts. All three knew exactly who Ash Ketchum was; there were only a handful of humans with a heart as pure as his, and it was more than coincidence that he'd met nearly every single legendary at one point or another, even Arceus itself.

"The unease you are feeling is centred on him. Seek him out in the physical world, and put a stop to his plan. For if he isn't stopped, more than just a Pokémon will be hurt," Arceus concluded, disappearing in a bright shimmer of lights that rivalled even that of the elegant halls they were in.

All three deities glanced at each other, deciding what to do. The alpha made it pretty clear that all three deities felt the same way, and it was all centred on one person. Without a single word, Palkia tore a hole through space, creating a rift between the Hall of origin and the physical realm, before he silently flew through the rift. Without a moment's hesitation, Dialga and Giratina both followed, emerging in the physical realm once more. The three legendary deities flew off in different directions, all in search of Ash.

* * *

The scene of unimaginable vicious beauty before him was surprisingly not attracting the trainer's attention. The wind blew violently, carrying an army of elegantly dancing snowflakes with it as it tore through the trainer's body. His red jacket billowed wildly in the wind, yet he remained still, deep in thought.

For two years now, the trainer hadn't given a second thought about his actions, but now, all he could think about was the choices he made, more specifically, Ash. The raven haired boy was constantly at the centre of his thoughts, haunting him like a bad memory, maybe because he was a bad memory.

But it was far too late to change his actions at this point. It was finally time. He could feel it. He wasn't even surprised by the voice that suddenly broke through the howling wings and into his ear drums.

"Remember me?" the voice growled. The trainer silently turned on the spot, facing the owner of the enraged voice. He wasn't surprised in the least to see the young boy from weeks ago glaring at him angrily. Ash drew a pokeball, throwing it high into the air. As it opened, the crimson red light tore through the snow, revealing a flying type Pokémon with a bright plumage elegantly flying through the frigid air.

The trainer in red turned to look at Ash with an expressionless face. It was unnerving seeing no emotion whatsoever from a human being. Nonetheless, Ash continued glaring at him with all the hatred his body could display, as he uttered loudly, fighting against the wind, a single phrase that was usually used in friendly situations. But this was far from a friendly situation. This was a grudge match, and Ash was sure he was going to win.

"Let's battle."

* * *

**Dun dunn duuunnn!**

**The battle is finally here, the battle between Ash and Red, anime and manga/games, person and colour! The battle begins next chapter! Unfortunately, I don't know when that will be. After glancing at my exam timetable for this month and next (and briefly having a heart attack) I've realised I should really do some studying. That's my first reason behind a change in update schedule for this fic. Another reason is pretty simple: it's the final battle, and I'm wanting to make it as amazing as I possibly can, so I'm going to spend much much much more time writing it and tweaking it to perfection. It's definitely going to be a multi chapter battle, and this is why I'm also deviating from my update schedule of every two weeks. DON'T WORRY! I'm not sure how long it will take me to complete each chapter, it could be uploaded within the normal two weeks schedule, it could be four weeks. I really don't know. I will keep an update on my profile with how many words I have written, as well as when I expect it to be uploaded, so if you're curious as to when the update will be, just keep an eye on my profile, right at the bottom. I will try to get it written as fast as possible, but I still want this to be the best I can physically write, so if I'm not satisfied with something, I'll spend time re-writing. **

**Phew, now that that's over, on with my thoughts! So Green is slowly revealing what happened two years ago to turn Red into the ruthless person he is now, but for the full revelation, you'll have to wait until after the battle! **

**In case you're wondering why I haven't actually called Red, well, Red yet in the fic, it's because I want to reveal his name in a specific way during the actual fic. I'm getting to that, don't worry.**

**Also, if you're wondering why Charizard mopped the cave floor with all those Ursaring so easily, it's because of two things. 1) the Ursaring were all wild, and despite being strong, hadn't been trained properly. 2) While Ursaring possess superb physical attack, they lack in defence, and with Charizards extremely high attack and sp attack, not to mention his abilities, Charizard easily overpowered them. **

**Now the legendary deities are in search of Ash. What will they do to stop him?**

**And this is probably the longest A/N I've ever written, so I'll cut it here. Read and review, I'd like to hear your thoughts on how the battle will pan out :)**

**Until next time, keep an eye on my profile for the next update!**

**Trainer Theta. **


	26. The Clash (Part 1)

**Holy Magikarp, guess what? It's here! Despite the overload of work I've had this month, I found plenty of time to write this. And I'm pretty proud of it. The long-awaited battle is finally underway, but who will win? I'd love to hear your opinions, so leave a review! Thanks goes to** **Imperishable soul, EliteLuther, Kimmy-1016, OnlyNeeded151, HollowKU**** and Necron Dragon Lord of** **D.A.****Also thanks to Moonstone blaze and theshadowchaser. If you've got a minute, please check out theshadowchaser's new fic, "In the Hawk's Shadow". They've just started and could use some support!**

* * *

"So what will it be?" Ash asked impatiently. Pidgeot shivered from the extreme chill of the harsh mountain, but remained in flight next to her trainer awaiting her opponent's decision. Through the snow obscuring all vision, the trainer clad in red merely gave a silent sigh, before plucking a pokeball out from his belt. Wordlessly he dropped the ball, releasing a blinding beam of crimson light, which warped and shaped into a four legged, sturdy green Pokémon.

The crimson light grew even more, eventually reaching the tip of the giant flower growing on the beasts back. With a sudden flash, the light disappeared, and in its wake was the seed Pokémon, Venusaur. With a low growl, it shook its whole body, sending snow fleeing from the surface of his scaly skin. Ash stared at the Pokémon, confused; why would this trainer purposely choose a Pokémon with a type disadvantage? Pidgeot shared the same look of confusion as her trainer did, yet the mysterious owner of the Venusaur merely looked ahead, awaiting Ash's next move.

"Okay Pidgeot, you ready?"Ash asked, not once taking his eyes off the other trainer. Despite his chilling gaze, Ash continued staring into his eyes, determined not to show signs of weakness. From his side, Pidgeot squawked loudly, glaring at Venusaur. The Grass and poison type however looked calm and relaxed, despite being on the most vicious mountain in the world, as well as being faced with a tough opponent at a type disadvantage. Either Venusaur was a lot stronger than he looked, or he just didn't care. Either way, Ash couldn't back out now.

"Use Air slash!"He ordered. Pidgeot flapped higher into the chill of the mountain air, and with great force, she flapped her wings, sending two scythes of compressed air rocketing towards the snow covered mountain below. Venusaur took the attack head ok, and the scythes exploded into a cloud of smoke that temporarily shrouded Venusaur. Ash mentally cheered, until the smoke was blown away by the violent winds. Venusaur stared lazily at him, as if it hadn't even noticed it was battling.

"But…How?" Ash asked, as the seed Pokémon glanced back at his trainer, awaiting his command. Without any verbal communication, Venusaur nodded and thrust his flower higher into the air. From the centre of the flower came a blindingly bright light of burning fire energy, which shot straight up into the air, disappearing into the clouds above. A few seconds passed, and nothing happened. The area seemed to get hotter, as the violent wind miraculously died down to a gentle breeze. The sun's rays intensified, illuminating the field with an intense orange glow. The snow began to melt rapidly, and the mountains rough rocky surface poked out of the remaining slush.

Ash stared in bewilderment; the attack Venusaur fired was obviously a sunny day. What surprised Ash was just how powerful it was. Not twenty seconds ago, he was desperately trying to fight the wind for dominance on this freezing cold mountain, and with one quick move, the whole area transformed into a paradise!

Ash was so distracted by the sudden change in climate, he didn't even notice Venusaur move his hefty body and position his flower straight towards Pidgeot. Luckily for them, Pidgeot did notice as Venusaur began glowing gently as it rapidly absorbed solar energy. A loud squawk alerted the avian's trainer, and Ash shifted his attention to the poison grass type just as it fired a colossal beam of solar energy, more powerful than any he had ever witnessed.

"Dodge!" Ash yelled frantically, covering his eyes due to the sheer intensity of the solar beam. Pidgeot flapped her wings frantically, narrowly dodging the main beam. However, her feathers were singed just from the energy surrounding the attack as she swerved above the beam. She gave an agitated squawk, letting her trainer know she had been hit, before she rested to the side after the solar beam had finished. Ash uncovered his eyes, glancing wearily at the behemoth on the other side of the mountainous field.

"Pidgeot use roost," he said. A light enveloped Pidgeot as she roosted on the ground, replenishing her lost energy. She was only partially hit by the attack, but the sheer power was cause for concern enough for Ash to warrant the use of this move. Within seconds, the flying type flapped her wings, dispelling the healing light surrounding her and taking flight once more.

"Now use Air slash." Pidgeot glanced confusedly at her trainer; why would he order her to use an attack that already failed once before? Nonetheless, she flapped her wings hard, creating two scythes of compressed air which were sent flying straight towards Venusaur.

"Quick attack into the Air slash!" Ash said hesitantly. He had thought about using this move, but wasn't sure if it would turn out successful. Without question, Pidgeot charged after her attack, a trail of white energy following her as she slammed straight into the scythes of air. Expecting an explosion, Pidgeot closed her eyes, but one never came.

She opened them, immediately seeing she was still charging straight towards Venusaur at blinding speeds. She glanced over at her wings, spotting one scythe of air on each wing, cackling with both the energy from the Air slash and the quick attack. Ash smirked as he watched Pidgeot slam straight into Venusaur, swoop out of the smoke that billowed up from the collision and landed next to him. The attack actually worked! He looked triumphantly at the smoke still covering much of the mountain, expecting to see Venusaur stomp out, lined with cuts and bruises all over his body. What he did see emerge from the smoke was quite a different surprise.

A series of razor sharp leaves flew out of the smoke, impacting with the startled Pidgeot before she could even attempt at flying away. The razor leaves left deep gashes in her delicate plumage, before Pidgeot swung her enormous wings in front of her, hardening them to steel-like properties as she charged up Steel wing. The Razor leaf bounced harmlessly off her metallic wings, before the attack finally ceased. Venusaur emerged into Ash's line of sight, surprisingly undamaged, only adorning a bruise on his flower from where Pidgeot connected with him in the double attack.

"Pidgeot use roost again!" Ash growled, gritting his teeth. This Venusaur seemed unstoppable! If he didn't think of a plan to take it out soon, Pidgeot would be down for the count. Pidgeot rested herself on the ground, the familiar glow engulfing her damaged body as she began to recover her health. However, Venusaur had other plans. Without a single verbal command from its trainer, Venusaur fired a glowing seed out of the flower on its back.

The seed homed in towards Pidgeot, landing on her head. Before she could react, the seed opened up, and a series of vicious vines latched onto every available surface on the poor bird's body. The vines began hissing, emitting a leech-like aura as they began glowing deep crimson. Pidgeot squawked in pain as the vines slowly sapped her health away, recovering Venusaur at the same time.

"Pidgeot!" As yelled. The flying type opened her eyes, glaring at Venusaur through the seething pain she felt every second. Ash had to do something now, or it would be all over. She was critically low on health while Venusaur only suffered a minor scratch! Pidgeot squawked loudly as another powerful surge of energy consumed her body, planting pain in every cell on her fragile body.

"Feather dance!" The raven haired trainer shouted frantically. Using the remaining strength she possessed, Pidgeot closed her eyes and channelled the flying type energy in her body. That energy began manifesting on the brown plumage, in the form of razor sharp feathers. After a few seconds, Pidgeot expelled the feathers, sending them barrelling outwards, their sharp edges slicing through the thick vines that gripped her, making them fall flimsily to the floor.

Ash gave a sigh of relief, before turning his attention back to Venusaur. The behemoth seemed uninterested in the battle, looking lazily towards the raven haired boy. Ash glanced back towards Pidgeot; the avian was panting hard and her body was heavily beaten. Suddenly, several thick vines sprouted from the flower on Venusaurs back, and they shot towards Pidgeot.

"Agility into Gust!" Ash responded hastily. Without a second spared, Pidgeot flew across the field at lighting fast pace, weaving between the thick vines trying to bat her out of the sky. She began circling above Venusaur, whipping up a violent gust that consumed the vulnerable grass and poison type. Venusaur retracted its vines, slamming them into the ground either side of it to remain balanced. Pidgeot returned to her trainer, visibly exhausted as the gust continued to tear at Venusaur, keeping it locked in the tornado. Now was Ash's chance.

"Now use roost!" he said. Pidgeot lowered herself to the ground, roosting on the rocky mountain as the same glowing aura consumed her body, healing her wounds and replenishing her strength. After several seconds, the aura dispersed, and Pidgeot took flight, squawking loudly. She glanced across the field at the remnants of the gust attack as it slowly dissipated, revealing the angry grass and poison type within.

Venusaur roared loudly, shaking off the pain it felt from the agility charged gust attack. He raised his front two legs, before slamming them down on the ground, causing tremors to shake through the mountain. Pidgeot didn't feel a thing, being airborne at the time, but this wasn't an earthquake attack.

Ash glanced cautiously at Venusaur, who now began glowing with a greenish aura. The tremors grew worse, and the earth parted. Several extremely thick vines shot up from the ground, startling Pidgeot as they whipped cruelly at her body. She attempted to fly away, until one of the vines snaked in from behind, slamming her to the ground and keeping her prisoner as the other vines continued to hail down on the defenceless normal and flying type.

"Pidgeot!" Ash shouted. His reply was a squawk of deep pain from the bird, as she was continuously beaten by the most powerful grass type move. Despite grass not being effective to a flying type such as herself, the sheer force behind the attack was brutal. Just when Pidgeot thought she would pass out from the pain, all but one vine receded back into the ground.

The remaining vine held her down against the floor, and despite her desperate attempts at fleeing, the thick vine wouldn't budge. Ash felt more tremors vibrating his bones, and he glanced back towards Venusaur. The seed Pokémon was charging straight towards Pidgeot, the green glow from before being replaced by a white glow of pure power. Each step it took made the mountain groan in protest, as it charged forward with a powerful Double edge.

"Pidgeot quick! Break free and fly away!"Ash called frantically. Pidgeot desperately writhed against the ground, trying to use her powerful wings to push away the vine, but to no avail. The Frenzy plant was too powerful for the flying type to break through, and in a matter of seconds, Venusaur would finish the battle.

"Pidgeot!" Ash called once more, eyes wider than dinner plates as he watched Venusaur storm closer and closer. Pidgeot was about to give up, finding no way to escape the iron like grip that held her against the floor, until her trainer called out to her. The fear in his voice was clear; it pained Pidgeot to hear her trainer so afraid. Her emotions invaded her mind, taking control over her body, and a blue aura encircled her.

The cackling aura grew more intense, and with one last burst of energy, Pidgeot pushed herself off the ground, prying the deadly plant upwards. Then with one quick move, she sliced straight through the thick vine, her blue aura turning a fiery mix of red and orange. The avian continued her attack, and slammed straight into Venusaur, the two powerful attacks colliding, sending a shockwave of energy surging through the air.

Both Pokémon were thrown backwards from the sheer force of the explosion, Pidgeot's body crackling with recoil damage from the powerful flying type move, Venusaur pounding his powerful legs into the ground in an attempt to stay upright. Both Pokémon were heavily damaged from the attack, cuts lining their bodies as they glared at each other threateningly.

"Pidgeot, was that Brave bird?" Ash asked, dumbstruck. He never knew Pidgeot learned this move. The avian nodded, panting heavily in an attempt to catch her breath. Her energy was depleted, and all she wanted to do was rest. Across the field, Venusaur was also suffering from fatigue; both attacks collided so violently that despite his extremely high defence, he suffered heavy damage.

"Well I guess it's now or never. Pidgeot, you ready?" Ash asked. Holding her pain, Pidgeot nodded and took to the skies. She flew higher and higher, becoming a mere dot to both trainers as they attempted to follow her movements. Pidgeot began glowing, as she used the last reserves of energy she had left in her body. Steeling herself, she began flying around in circles, increasing her speed with every loop she completed. A powerful gust of wind began to form, slowly rising in power as Pidgeot continued her loops. She began glowing brighter as she poured more energy into the violent winds, creating a hurricane of crackling energy.

She flew into the winds, controlling the violent turbulence from the eye of the hurricane. With a burst of energy, she rocketed down towards the ground, dragging the hurricane with her. With one final flap of her wings, she sent the hurricane straight towards the vulnerable seed Pokémon. Venusaur became engulfed by the violent hurricane, the super-effective attack dealing too much damage for Venusaur to handle. He roared in pain, as the crackling winds sapped more and more of his health away. Pidgeot returned to Ash, completely exhausted, but she knew her attacks weren't over yet.

"Finish this Pidgeot, use Sky attack!" Ash commanded. Pidgeot closed her eyes, and she began glowing in a blue aura, similar to when she used Brave bird. She concentrated on storing this energy, manifesting the powerful energy in her heavily damaged body.

From inside the hurricane, Venusaur began glowing with a green aura as his ability activated. With one loud roar, he fired a flurry of powerful leaves from his flower, and he sent the leaf storm straight upwards. The Leaf storm melded with the hurricane, the razor sharp leaves slicing through the vicious winds, slowing the hurricane to a halt as the remnants wafted harmlessly over the rocky field and into the air.

Ash glanced at Venusaur, seeing its body as badly beaten as Pidgeot's from enduring the super effective Hurricane attack. The green aura it was emitting seemed to grow even brighter as Overgrow came into effect, granting Venusaur one last burst of energy. Pidgeot snapped open her eyes, storing as much energy as her body could possibly hold as she finished charging the ultimate flying type move.

With a loud squawk, Pidgeot took off at incredible speed, her body becoming engulfed in a blue flame. Venusaur roared loudly, positioning its flower directly at the incoming avian. Quickly absorbing as much sunlight energy as possible from the sunny day attack, Venusaur fired a super charged Solar beam, which collided with Pidgeot half way across the field.

Pidgeot winced in pain as the extreme quantities of energy singed her feathers. The Solar beam began pushing her back, the extreme power behind it making the beam seemingly unstoppable. The avian closed her eyes, ready to admit defeat as the beam slowly pushed her back.

"_Pidgeot do it!" Her eyes snapped open as her trainers words echoed through her ears. She was flying towards a vicious looking Fearow, about to collide head on when her trainer cried out to her from the ground below. She remembered the flock of Pidgey and Pidgeotto that were constantly bulled by the flock of Spearow and their ruthless leader, Fearow. _

_These thoughts circling around her head filled her body with newly added adrenaline, as she pushed forward at tremendous speed, ploughing straight into Fearow and knocking the brown bird out of the sky. Fearow landed with a loud thud on the ground, squawking in pain, before clamouring back to its feet and fleeing the area with the Spearow close behind. The Pidgey and Pidgeotto cheered loudly for Pidgeot, as she landed next to her equally happy trainer. _

"_I knew you could do it Pidgeot!"Ash said happily, wrapping his arms around her large body, pulling the bird into a hug. Pidgeot rubbed her head against Ash's cheek affectionately, as Ash laughed from the tickling sensation. _

Pidgeot opened her eyes, suddenly filled with new-found energy. The extra adrenaline fuelled her, propelling her forward into the Solar beam, with a loud squawk she began pushing the Solar beam back towards Venusaur. The poison grass type poured more energy into the Solar beam, and Pidgeot poured more energy into the Sky attack, as she continued slowly pushing the beam back to its owner.

With one last burst of energy, Pidgeot slammed straight into Venusaur, unleashing all the energy she had contained in her body, releasing it in a large explosion which tore through the sky. The shockwaves pulsed outwards, soaring through the sky defying the laws of physics as they continued their onslaught across the globe. Both trainers atop Mt. Silver were knocked off their feet from the powerful pulse of energy. It seemed as the very air itself was trembling in pain. When the smoke cleared, both Pidgeot and Venusaur were lying unconscious on the rocky floor, both beaten heavily as several deep cuts adorned their bodies. Ash didn't hesitate to return Pidgeot; the avian had definitely earned a good long rest for her valiant battling. Across the field, the trainer in red stared at his Venusaur, almost as if he couldn't comprehend what had happened, or that his Pokémon had been beaten. After a few seconds, he returned the exhausted grass and poison type, before turning his hate-filled glare to Ash. The raven haired boy wouldn't dare admit it to anyone, but this trainer's gaze alone seemed to lower the temperature several degrees around Ash.

Now wasn't the time to turn back, and Ash reached for his belt, considering his next selection. Across the field, the mysterious trainer plucked one at random, before throwing it onto the field. The ball snapped open, and the familiar crimson beam shot towards the ground.

The beam began manifesting in a circular shape, like a shell of some sort. Two powerful feet were rooted firmly on the ground, and two arms extended out of the circular torso. Its head was next to appear, being small and oval-like. Continuing on from its head, two cannon-like appendages sprouted out of the beasts back.

When the light dimmed, Ash sighed tiredly. He'd had more than enough experience dealing with this Pokémon. Ash chose his Pokémon, plucking the ball from his belt and throwing it onto the ground in front of him.

* * *

Scattered across the world, the three legendary deities continued their search for Ash. All three hadn't a clue how they were supposed to find a single human in the entire world, but they'd find a way somehow.

Currently, Dialga was flying above the Sinnoh region, one of her personal favourite places to visit when in the physical realm. Something about the land seemed to scream home to the dragon, and she couldn't resist beginning her search there.

As for Palkia, he was currently in the far away region of Unova. He had heard legends of two new legendary dragons being formed after splitting with his old friend, Kyurem, and supposedly they were resting in this land. Even if he failed to find Ash, he could still hunt down these new legendary dragons that had caught Arceus' attention.

The dragon of shadows, Giratina, was flying more on instinct, as she weaved her way through the sky and towards the Johto Hoenn region. Considering how close Hoenn was to both Johto and Kanto, the dragoness could easily fly to the other regions if her search failed in Hoenn.

Suddenly, across the globe, all three dragons gave a hiss of great pain as their bodies contorted with the mysterious source of invasion against them. It was as if their bodies were somehow connected; all three dragons felt each other's pain as they continued to shriek in agony from high up in the air.

Back in the dimensions of time and space, massive quantities of energy began manifesting, consuming the emptiness of each dimension. Dialga felt time being momentarily stopped, Palkia felt space being torn to shreds. They felt their dimensions colliding for the second time in history, somehow connecting due to the sheer amount of unexplained energy that suddenly pulsed across the globe.

In the reverse world, shockwaves began rippling throughout the twisted space, warping the already damaged buildings beyond recognition. More clouds of toxic smoke materialised, gathering in every available space as Giratina's home attempted to store the excruciating amount of excess energy that had suddenly formed within the physical realm; to maintain balance throughout the physical dimension and those of time and space, the reverse world had to act as storage for any excess energy that appeared.

After what seemed like hours but in reality were only minutes, the three dragons felt the pain leave their bodies. The sudden shockwaves of energy had damaged all three of their dimensions, and despite their urge to visit their respective homes, somehow each dragon began looking in one direction, a new location somehow becoming their focus of attention. As if someone was waving a giant magnet at the deities, all three began moving towards this new source of curiosity. Somehow, they knew that the source of extreme energy had stemmed from this place. The three deities began moving towards their next destination, and somehow, they knew that Ash would be there: Mt. Silver.

* * *

**Wow, I actually had fun writing this chapter. The battle with Pidgeot and Venusaur was definitely challenging, since I'm not too familiar with those two pokemon, or their moves, so I had to rely quite heavily on my good ol' friend, Google to find out all the info on these two. It felt pretty weird writing a single battle, since the last battle I wrote was a double battle. **

**What's happening to the deities? And why are their dimensions destabilizing? For that, you will have to read on and find out!**

**I bet you could hazard a pretty good guess to Red's next pokemon. But who is Ash going to choose? Even I haven't decided xD**

**Anyway, I'm nearing 200 reviews. Help me reach that milestone by...well...reviewing!**

**Until next time,**

**Trainer Theta. **


	27. The Clash (Part 2)

**I know I've said this a few times, but I apologise for the shortness of this chapter. It's about 1,000 words shorter than what I had hoped for. But, as my old English teacher used to say, "quality, not quantity," so I hope you enjoy this chapter regardless. As usual, thanks goes to Imperishable soul, EliteLuther, HollowKU, Kimmy-1016, OnlyNeeded151, Necron Dragon Lord of D.A and senpen banka. Also, I'd like to thank Lunara the Ara and theshadowchaser. And of course to anyone else whose reviewed! Read and review, but most of all, enjoy!**

* * *

The ball snapped open, and a vicious torrent of sand and wind tore across the mountain top, instantly making both trainers recoil. Blastoise grunted as the sandstorm sapped some health away, and the turtle strained his eyes to gaze through the sandstorm, spotting the towering figure of the rock-armour Pokémon.

Tyranitar shrieked loudly, with a voice that could shatter rock just from the piercing force behind the sound waves. Blastoise grinned, always grateful for a challenge. And battling a pseudo-legendary as powerful as a Tyranitar was the perfect challenge for the water type.

"Alright Tyranitar, we're going to crack a good defence with an even better one. Use screech!" Ash ordered. Tyranitar opened his jaws, and a colossal noise escaped his throat. The horrific cry made everyone cover their ears in agony, and without waiting for his trainers command, Tyranitar fired off a pulse of dark energy, enough to knock Blastoise off his feet; in his weakened state thanks to the screech, Blastoise sustained even more damage from the dark pulse.

Still, it was nowhere near enough to down a Pokémon as strong as Blastoise, who stood up defiantly, still feeling the strain of the sandstorm slowly sapping his health away.

Without warning, Blastoise fired two jets of high pressurised water from its cannons, both jets of water powered through the thick wall of sand and straight towards Tyranitar.

"Dodge!" Tyranitar leapt to the side, narrowly dodging the hydro pump as he continued to charge across the field and towards Blastoise. The water type stopped the hydro pump, stunned that a Pokémon as heavy as Tyranitar could run so fast. He braced himself for the inevitable collision, as Tyranitar charged nearer.

"Brick break!" Ash ordered. Tyranitars fist began glowing a powerful white, which tore through the sandstorm with ease as the rock and dark type swung the attack towards Blastoise. To his utter horror, Blastoise ducked underneath the attack, before angling one of his cannons to Tyranitars underside, and firing a blast of ice cold water at the vulnerable rock-armour Pokémon. Tyranitar shrieked in pain as it flew backwards, being propelled by the hydro pump, before he landed with a thud on the ground. He climbed to his feet, wincing in pain as his rock-like skin was soaked in the watery blast.

"Tyranitar, are you okay? Use stone-edge!" Ash yelled through the vicious sandstorm. Tyranitar began glowing, as sharp rocks materialised around his body. The rocks were flung towards Blastoise at incredibly high speeds, but Blastoise merely tucked his limbs into his shell and began spinning rapidly, batting away the rocks with ease. With a sudden burst of speed, Blastoise began flying through the air, spinning directly towards Tyranitar, who ceased his Stone edge and glared at the incoming spinning fortress.

"Catch it!" Just when Blastoise was about to hit its mark, Tyranitar clasped hold of the thick shell, stopping the spin as Tyranitar grinned menacingly at it. Without waiting for orders, Tyranitar spun the shell around until he was peering into the fearful eyes of Blastoise who was still tucked away inside the armour and the rock and dark type fired a colossal beam of volatile energy straight into the shell, scoring a direct hit with the close range hyper beam.

Blastoise roared in pain as he was flung back towards his trainer. Just before he was about to hit the ground, the water type flung his limbs out, landing on the ground with a tremble of the earth. Knowing the side effects of using Hyper beam, Blastoise seized his chance and fired an orb of concentrated water type energy, much more powerful than a hydro pump.

The ultimate water type move ripped through the defiant sandstorm and towards Tyranitar, who was still recovering from the hyper beam to fire a counter attack. With an explosion of water, Tyranitar was enveloped by the Hydro cannon, blocking any view from the rock and dark type due to the concealing clutches of the freezing cold water.

"Tyranitar!" Ash yelled, desperately scanning the slowly settling water for any sign of his Pokémon. With a mighty swipe, Tyranitar tore apart the water, making it fall to the ground in defeat. Tyranitar was hurt, but not beat. It would take a lot more than that to take him out. Ash grinned, already forming a counter attack. Blastoise fired another hydro pump, hoping to take out Tyranitar before it could do any more damage.

"Use protect!" A green orb of hard-light energy enveloped Tyranitar, shielding it from the high pressurised water.

"Send the protect to Blastoise!" Ash ordered. Tyranitar looked quizzically towards his trainer, but after a nod of his head, Tyranitar expanded the protect, pushing the hydro pump back towards Blastoise. Using the remaining energy from protect, Tyranitar fired the protective bubble directly towards Blastoise. The water type didn't have enough time to dodge the bubble, before he became trapped inside. He hammered desperately against the sides, but to no avail.

"Now use rest," Ash said, relieved that his plan had worked. Tyranitar closed his eyes, and began resting; a yellow glow emerged from his body as he began recovering his health. Blastoise continued hammering away at the protect, but it was no use, and could only watch in frustration as Tyranitar completely healed itself when the rest finally finished.

With a mighty roar, Blastoise slammed straight through the powerful barrier encasing him, and fired off a tri-beam of compressed ice energy. The Ice beam connected painfully against Tyranitar, earning a screech from the rock and dark type. On impulse, Tyranitar swung his tail around, blocking the Ice beam as his tail began glowing with a greenish aura. With one quick swing, Tyranitar sent the beam careening off course, and Blastoise cancelled the attack, a shocked expression on his face. Ash looked equally shocked; he had only seen the move performed several times, and he didn't even realise that Tyranitar could learn it.

"Tyranitar, was that a dragon tail?" Ash asked. Tyranitar merely grunted, keeping his gaze on Blastoise. The water type finally recovered from the initial shock of the new move, and the fact that his ice beam had been easily deflected.

"Use hidden power!" Immediately, Tyranitar began producing tiny orbs of compressed power, each one glowing a powerful white. With a quick exertion, he fired the attack directly at Blastoise. A few seconds and nothing happened; Ash was sure that he would land a successful hit, but just as the attack was about to slam against the water types powerful shell, the ground began trembling, and a wave of water manifested underneath Blastoise. The turtle began riding the wave towards the startled Tyranitar, and the Hidden power was extinguished by the powerful torrent of water that was roaring towards the rock and dark type. Ash's eyes widened at seeing the incoming attack; if this hit, it would surely be over.

"Use rock tomb on yourself!"Ash hastily ordered. Tyranitar turned to him, thinking if his trainer had finally gone mad. Nonetheless, with the water towering over him, the vulnerable rock-armour Pokémon was willing to try anything. He exerted powerful rock type aura, and the ground around him began to tremble.

With a quick burst, several jagged rocks came out of the ground, encasing Tyranitar in a makeshift tomb. Within a second, Blastoise's wave of freezing cold water powered into the tomb of rocks, but despite the extreme force behind the mighty wave, the turtle failed to penetrate the tomb of rocks, which seemed like a solid wall, protecting Tyranitar from any attacks. Then again, if Tyranitar wanted to be protected, why didn't he just use protect? The water type's response came in the form of an attack.

"Brick break!" As the water disappeared into the ground, Blastoise stood warily by the tomb of rocks, looking for any signs of the trapped rock and dark type. The turtle was way too close to the tomb to even hope to dodge the following explosion; from inside the tomb, Tyranitar stayed protected from the powerful surge of water, and began his retaliation immediately.

Charging his fist with as much fighting type energy that he could muster, he slammed into the wall of rock in front of him, shattering it completely and sending massive chunks of rock directly into the unaware water type.

Blastoise howled in pain as he was bombarded with rocks, and he staggered back to his trainer, finally feeling the exhaustion of the tough battle. He thought that with a type advantage he would easily win, but that wasn't the case. This Tyranitar had obviously been trained exceptionally well. But Blastoise and his trainer still had a few tricks up their sleeves.

"Tyranitar use dark pulse," Ash ordered. Tyranitar quickly charged up the attack, before dispelling a wave of hatred towards the enemy. The dark pulse travelled quickly towards Blastoise, who chose that moment to retreat into his shell, spinning rapidly. The rapid spin deflected the dark pulse, protecting the water type. Then to Ash's surprise, Blastoise began pumping water out of its cannons while it was still spinning. Blastoise flew closer to Tyranitar, attempting to hit the rock and dark type with the hydro pump that was circling around the field. It was like Ash's counter-shield, defending whilst attacking! Ash gritted his teeth, as the spinning torpedo came closer, the powerful jets of water beginning to hit Tyranitar, earning shrieks of pain from him.

"Hyper beam! Knock it away!" Tyranitar charged an orb of volatile energy, before expelling the powerful beam directly towards Blastoise. Surprisingly, Blastoise stopped his attack, and quickly charged up his own hyper beam, but this one had a light blue colouration; Blastoise fused hyper beam with Ice beam. Ash noticed the temperature freeze several degrees, as both beams collided with each other, sending shockwaves of energy expelling outwards. Ash covered his face, shielding himself from the excess energy these two were giving off. Then, to Ash's horror, Blastoise's hyper beam began pushing Tyranitars back.

"Protect!" Ash made one last attempt at protecting his Pokémon, but suddenly realised that a Pokémon couldn't move after hyper beam. The raven haired boy looked away, not wanting to see the outcome of the battle. With a loud explosion, Blastoise's hyper ice beam smashed into Tyranitar, and the rock and dark type howled in pain. Another large shockwave was created, as the excess energy from the two powerful attacks escaped into the surroundings. This shockwave ploughed both trainers over, and even the large turtle was knocked onto his back from the sheer force.

Ash clambered to his feet, and he noticed the sandstorm begin to die down; not a good sign. His eyes widened when he realised Tyranitar was lying defeated on the ground; a large burn mark adorning his chest from where the hyper ice beam collided.

Ash looked sullen as he returned his Pokémon, picking the next combatant and throwing the ball to the ground.

* * *

In separate places across the globe, the three legendary dragons shrieked in pain, pausing their flight as their muscles contorted with the sudden pain. Dialga, Palkia and Giratina had felt this pain once before, and when it ended the first time, it somehow pointed towards Mt. Silver.

Dialga once again felt time tremble and stop in her dimension; the sudden shockwaves were destabilising the very fabric of time itself. The constant loop of time had only ever faltered once, after Dialga and Palkia clashed in Alamos town over territory after their dimensions collided. But the dragon had never felt pain like this before in all her years of existence. It was like time was desperately calling for her help, but she didn't know how to help.

Palkia felt the same pain, as he felt the fabric of space being torn to shreds. His dimension had gone berserk, and for the second time in his existence, space was in deep turmoil as the unknown source of energy tore through the very fabric of space. Palkia felt helpless, not knowing what to do. This wasn't like back in Alamos town; this time the source of energy was unknown, and for some reason, instead of affecting the physical realm, it was affecting the realms of time and space.

Giratina felt the most pain; her reverse world destabilising at a much more rapid rate. It was her duty to govern the reverse world; and the reverse world's job was to keep stability between the dimensions. This excess energy was flowing into the reverse world at a rapid rate; the reverse world can't take this amount of excess energy.

The dragoness writhed in pain from high up in the sky, knowing that if the source of this sudden energy wasn't stopped soon, the reverse world would crumble, and the excess energy would flow into the dimensions of time and space. Maybe it already was, the dragon of shadows couldn't tell. However, if the dimensions continued to crumble at the rate they were, time would freeze throughout all dimensions, and space would begin to disappear, leaving behind an empty void, not just in Palkias dimension, but in both the dimension of time and the physical realm.

The three dragons shrugged off the pain, continuing their flight towards Mt. Silver; they somehow knew the source of the energy was there, and it had to be stopped.

* * *

Deep within the bowels of Cerulean cave, the powerful psychic type's meditation was interrupted, and for the first time in years, the clone Pokémon howled in pain as a sudden shockwave invaded its body. Mewtwo hadn't felt energy this powerful since the last clash between Palkia and Dialga. The unknown shockwave of energy left the cave as quickly as it entered, leaving Mewtwo to think. Somehow, the psychic knew that the energy was coming from Mt. Silver, but he couldn't explain why.

He opened his mind's eye to the world, replaying the previous minutes of time upon Mt. Silver's summit. There, the psychic type found a rather large shock. Battling a Blastoise using his Tyranitar, was none other than Ash. Mewtwo shifted his mental gaze, eyeing the other trainer, where he received another shock. The very same trainer that caught him all those years ago; aside from Ash, he was the only other trainer to ever care so deeply about Pokémon. The trainer in red commanded his Blastoise wordlessly, as he kept his cold gaze fixated on Ash.

'_Interesting,'_ Mewtwo thought, watching as Blastoise's ice charged hyper beam collided with Tyranitars chest, sending a powerful shockwave of energy rocketing through the sky, knocking over both trainers and even Blastoise. Mewtwo continued to observe the battle silently, as Ash selected his next Pokémon. Is this trainer the one who Ash had wanted Mewtwo to fight against?

'_Very interesting.'_

* * *

Pikachu watched sadly as his trainer continued to battle the other powerful trainer atop Mt. Silver. The mouse desperately wanted to see him once more, to convince him to stop this path for revenge. He had been avoiding his friends, gathering a team of powerful Pokémon just to extract revenge for the little mouse. Pikachu couldn't help but feel shame at the situation. He watched as Latias floated invisibly by Ash's side. Somehow, his enhanced vision of the physical realm allowed him to see the dragoness, even when she was invisible.

It interested the electric type how their relationship seemed deeper than his other Pokémon. Ash cared for a Latias a lot more than the rest of his team, and always seemed reluctant to use her in battle; like with the two brothers, Ash didn't want to use Latias at first.

As much as he wanted to see his trainer one more time, he couldn't. If Arceus found out that he had entered the physical realm, he would surely be punished, despite the god's great understanding of Pikachu's pain. Anyway, the electric type didn't know how to enter the physical realm. He had been taught by Arceus how to view the physical realm, but he didn't know how to enter it.

He watched the battle continue, growing sadder at how much his Pokémon were getting hurt, because of him. First Pidgeot, now Tyranitar.

"Pika pika…" he muttered sadly, holding a paw out longingly for his trainer.

From elsewhere in the hall of origin, Arceus watched as the three dragons came closer to unravelling the truth, which would be found at the summit of Mt. Silver. It was so tempted to intervene, but Arceus knew that would be impossible; for if humanity found out about its existence, then Arceus would be risking its hallowed halls to the physical realm. Human technology had advanced so much recently, it was impossible to believe that they started out making fires in caves.

The god watched as the three deities writhed in pain from the sudden shockwaves that invaded their dimensions. It wouldn't be long before the two trainers caused the collapse of time and space itself. The shockwaves were so intense that even the alpha began feeling the effects of so much excess energy, but Arceus could prevent the pain by utilizing his life plates.

"Dialga, Palkia, Giratina. Please, Hurry!"

* * *

**Well the battle was shorter than the last one. My reasoning, you ask? I don't want the battle to be too long and become a chore to read. I also want to advance the plot more, hence the sections with Arceus, Pikachu, the three deities and Mewtwo. Not to mention if the battle is too long it would be boring to read, so I shortened it down compared to the last one. **

**The plot behind Arceus' worry is finally coming to light. The dimensions are becoming destabilised, which could very well cause the destruction of both time and space. Imagine a world where time doesn't flow, or space doesn't exist. *shudders*. Will the deities be able to stop Ash? **

**Poor Pikachu. It's not your fault buddy! Don't feel upset!**

**This chapter was finished within my usual two week schedule since I had a week off...Well, technically two weeks since I've finally left high school. I just have my exams to do, then it's off to college! So I've had plenty of time to write this; despite being the second shortest chapter I've ever done, I spent a tremendous amount of time typing this up, not to mention I've been planning the next few chapter more thoroughly, so I know at this point exactly how the battle will turn out, who will battle in what order, and what will happen after the battle. It's just a case of actually writing it. It sounds easier than it actually is.**

**Anyway, don't forget to drop a review!**

**Until next time!**

**Trainer Theta. **


	28. The Clash (Part 3)

**...Okay, I'm going to start by apologising. It's been almost a month since my last update, and I am extremely sorry for the long wait. These past few weeks have been a nightmare for me, and I've been extremely busy. But, here it is, after several weeks, it is finally here! As usual, thanks goes to Imperishable Soul, Kimmy-1016, EliteLuther, HollowKU, theshadowchaser, OnlyNeeded151 and to anyone who has reviewed! You people are seriously awesome! I will be talking about my decisions concerning the battle in the bottom A/N, so I hope I'll clear up any confusion. Help me reach 200 reviews!**

* * *

Blastoise reared into combat stance when Ash's pokeball snapped open, revealing its contents to the outside world. A loud roar accompanied the popping noise, as the light bent itself into the shape of the land shark. Garchomp glared threateningly at Blastoise, who only retaliated with a smirk brimming with confidence. Sure, Tyranitar had worn down the turtle, but it still had more than enough fight to take down Garchomp; even if it was a pseudo legendary.

Garchomp growled in annoyance, astonished that the enemy hadn't even winced from his presence. The dragon was used to enemy Pokémon quaking in fear at the mere sight of him. It was obvious that this Blastoise was very well trained…_and strong_.

Ash watched the other trainer for his reaction, but the only reply he received was the same chilling gaze that always adorned the boys face. His Blastoise shared a similar look; a cold presence in its eyes, as if it was ready to attack the world. The only thing was: why? Ash began wondering just what had made this trainer into the ruthless trainer he is now. Not even team rocket are as cold as he is.

Something wet dripped onto Ash's head, and instinctively, the raven haired boy glanced up. To his horror, he could see snowflakes begin to dance down to the mountain. The sun was still shining; the remnants of the sunny day attack earlier. Even through Tyranitars sandstorm, the sunshine held strong. And here it was, finally receding behind the army of snow that would soon cascade down, obscuring their vision and making the battle even harder. It wouldn't be long before the hail started; Ash needed to win this quickly.

"Garchomp, snack time," he ordered. Garchomp smirked, well aware of Ash's plan whenever he ordered this strange move. Quickly, the dragon charged an orb of draconic energy before swallowing it whole. In a flash of eerie green light, Garchomp roared as extra power surged through his body. His claws and fangs elongated, and he emitted an aura of pure power.

Across the field, the other trainer looked slightly stunned; in all his years of existence, he'd never seen this type of move before, and the boy had seen some pretty strange sights. He mentally shuddered at the image of the abomination that was created by fusing the legendary bird trio. Blastoise shared the same look of shock as he watched Garchomps power increase drastically. Gritting his teeth, Blastoise crouched low, keeping a wary eye on his opponent; this was going to be a tough fight.

"Dragon pulse," Ash ordered. Much like before, Garchomp charged up a ball of pure energy, only the usual green colouration was a pure black; radiating power beyond belief as the super charged dragon type move grew bigger and bigger, before finally being flung towards Blastoise at tremendous speeds.

Blastoise watched the incoming projectile, before his master's command echoed through his mind. He tucked in his arms and legs, and his shell began glowing with a metallic sheen as the turtle used Iron defence. Not a second too soon, the Dragon pulse slammed into his shell, flinging the turtle back significantly, and landing with an earth-shaking thud on the ground. Thanks to the Iron defence, damage was minimal, but the turtle had to admit: that was one powerful shot.

He was seriously impressed with this new challenger. Normally anyone foolish enough to challenge his trainer was taken out in a second using Pikachu. The little yellow mouse was easily the strongest of his master's Pokémon, and yet his master surprised him by not even using him. It was very unusual that his master started out using Venusaur. While the grass and poison type was strong, Pikachu was clearly much stronger. What was his plan?

Across the field, Ash didn't seem to notice the trainer's choice in Pokémon. He would take down every one of them, no matter what order they were chosen in. It did surprise him a little that he beat Venusaur so easily. Granted, it ended with a draw, but he was expecting a much harder fight, considering the strength of his Pikachu. Nonetheless, Ash continued his attacks, wanting a quick win over Blastoise.

"Garchomp use Dragon claw." Garchomps demonic claws began glowing, and with a quick burst of speed, he ploughed into Blastoise's side before the turtle could even react. The water type grunted in pain as the super charged claws impacted his side, but thanks to Iron defence, damage was massively reduced. Instinctively, Blastoise aimed one of his cannons at the land shark, and fired a jet of powerful water, knocking Garchomp backwards, giving the water type time to recover from enduring the double attack.

"Keep it up Garchomp, use Dragon pulse!" Ash ordered. Garchomp quickly charged a ball of compressed draconic energy and flung it at Blastoise. However, this time the turtle was prepared. Before the attack hit, Blastoise retracted his limbs and began spinning rapidly, knocking the Dragon pulse away like a ball. Without stopping his spin, Blastoise fired a beam of ice energy which spiralled around the air, making an Ice beam counter shield. Garchomp hissed in pain as it was continually bombarded with the super effective attack, unable to defend itself from the unpredictable move. Ash gritted his teeth, seeing his partner's pain.

"Dig!" Ash yelled. Garchomp concentrated, pushing the pain out of his mind as he leapt into the air and dove for the ground, in an attempt to escape. Blastoise however had other plans. Cancelling the Ice beam, Blastoise stopped spinning and began channelling water type energy to his feet. That energy surged upwards, propelling Blastoise into the air as he began riding a wave of water. Before Garchomp could dive safely into the ground, Blastoise charged at him, hitting him with the wall of water and earning another cry of pain from the dragon.

"Substitute!" Hearing his trainer's orders through the torrent of water he was trapped in, Garchomp began glowing brightly as he made a temporary copy of himself in the Surf, while the real thing teleported safely out of the consuming water.

"Now use Dragon Rush!" Garchomps body began glowing with a green outline, as draconic energy surged powerfully through his shark-like body. With a burst of speed, Garchomp slammed into the started Blastoise, knocking the turtle off the wave of water and slamming him into the ground, sending rocks and debris flying high into the air.

"Dragon claw!" Ash relentlessly ordered. Garchomp had been hit too many times, and after using Substitute, his health was dangerously low. It was clear, just by the dragons heavy panting that he wouldn't survive for much longer. He had to end this now.

Garchomp slammed both his claws into Blastoise as they cackled with dragon type energy. He continued pounding away at his prey, earning a fierce cry of pain from the turtle who was enduring the constant slashes. Unable to take the strain anymore, Blastoise fired out a vicious Hydro pump into the ground, propelling both him and Garchomp into the air.

Taking this moment of freedom, Blastoise used Rapid spin to bat away the land shark, before landing safely on the ground, a series of slash marks adorning his heavily damaged shell. It was a miracle that Garchomp hadn't broken through the exoskeleton and damaged the turtle's fragile skin.

Grunting in pain, Blastoise retaliated immediately by firing a jagged, three pronged beam of ice energy which collided with the vulnerable dragon. Garchomp howled loudly, crossing his arms in front of his face to reduce the force of the beam, but to no avail.

Slowly his body began freezing from the chilling beam of ice, starting with the tips of his immensely sharp claws. As more and more of his body became frozen, Garchomp heard Ash's desperate pleas to launch an attack, but to the land sharks horror, all he could hear through his pounding heart beat was that beam of ice making his head spin from the extreme cold.

When the land shark couldn't take it anymore, he closed his eyes, attempting to forget the pain that was constantly shocking his body, and be began to concentrate. He blocked out the cold from his mind, and focused on the hidden fire in his stomach. Garchomp slowed his breathing down, focusing more on that uninterrupted fire.

When his eyes snapped open, almost his entire body was coated in ice, frozen to the cruel mountain as the snow began to form into an opaque sheet of white, which was nearly impossible to see through. Garchomp opened his mouth, as the fire inside him burned even brighter, and emerged to the back of his throat; the flames licking his jagged teeth.

With one powerful breath, he expelled the powerful flamethrower directly into the ice beam, obliterating the icy attack and making Blastoise jump out of the way from the surprisingly hot flames.

Much to Ash's relief, the flamethrower began to melt the ice containing Garchomp, and with one final exertion, the dragon broke free of his prison.

"Dragon rush!" Ash yelled, wasting no time in ordering a counter-attack. Garchomp had sustained massive amounts of damage; it was a miracle he was still standing. Through sheer willpower and determination, Garchomp charged up the attack, despite his body screaming at him to rest, and set off across the field towards the wide eyed Blastoise.

Then the turtle did something that truly shocked Ash: Blastoise's body began glowing a powerful white, as he jumped high into the air, propelling himself straight towards Garchomp. Why would Blastoise launch a Skull bash attack? Garchomp were known for their extremely high attack stat, and with a dragon type attack being used, Garchomps power was even higher. There's no way Blastoise could counter that with a physical attack, even one as powerful as Skull Bash. That's what Ash thought, anyway.

Watching the display confidently, Ash was horrified when the two Pokémon, only for Garchomp to be knocked back by Blastoise; the skull bash dealing a lot of damage.

"Garchomp!" Ash yelled, as Garchomp landed with a thud on the ground in front of him. The raven haired trainer gritted his teeth, thinking how in the world It was possible that Blastoise had beaten Garchomp. 'It must be a really high level if it was able to counter Garchomps Dragon Rush attack with a Skull Bash,' he thought miserably. He glanced at the battered and bleeding body of Garchomp, who was slowly rising to his shaky feet; being driven by nothing more than determination at this point. One more attack and it would be all over for the land shark.

"Use Dragon Pulse!" Ash ordered, but his attack fell on deaf ears. Garchomp didn't listen, as he forced his body to remain standing, glaring across the field at Blastoise with unbridled fury. This should have been an easy fight, but he was losing badly! There's no way that he was going to allow this overgrown turtle diminish his and his trainers honour!

With a loud roar, Garchomp slammed his claws into the ground, making the mountain tremor with extreme magnitude as the shockwaves rippled throughout the rocky terrain. Several large rocks were jarred loose from the trembling, and struck Blastoise as the water type desperately clamoured to his feet after falling over. The shockwaves inflicted damage to the helpless turtle, before Garchomp raised his claws from the ground, and the tremors ceased.

"Was that earthquake?!" Ash exclaimed, surprised by the new attack. Garchomp however, didn't listen as he charged across the field, using whatever energy he had left to complete his attack. An orb of golden energy began forming in front of his body, and soon, his entire body became coated in this golden glow. Several thick purple streaks formed, as the volatile energy coating Garchomp increased in intensity. With an ear-piercing shriek, Garchomp hurled his entire body across the field, giving every ounce of strength he possessed to the Giga Impact.

By this point, however, Blastoise was standing and ready with a counter. The turtle aimed both his cannons towards the incoming dragon, and began charging his own attack. Orange streaks of light began pooling in the barrels of the cannons, before Blastoise fired the Hyper Beam.

Both attacks collided viciously, as a tremendous shockwave of energy was released from the two attacks. This shockwave was easily more powerful than the previous ones, as both trainers and Pokémon were sent flying from the brutal explosion of energy. Blastoise dug his feet in the ground, refusing to topple over, but to no avail as he was eventually thrown backwards and landed with a thud several meters away, landing next to his trainer who had also been thrown back by the blast.

Ash yelled as he was propelled with tremendous force through the air, heading straight for the large, rock wall signalling the cave entrance. The raven haired trainer closed his eyes, ready to meet his inevitable death, as he was sure that the impact with the mountain would easily be enough to crush his bones. He was surprised to feel his body hit something soft, before falling to the floor with a loud thud.

Groaning, he glanced upwards, but didn't see anything other than the rugged rock towering above him. Then, he felt something tackle into his side, knocking him over painfully. His cheeks burned with a tickling sensation as the invisible force rubbed her feathered cheek against his. Latias cried with relief that his trainer had avoided a brutal death.

If it weren't for her quick reactions, he would've been a goner. Ash felt Latias' wet tears stain his cheek and his jacket, and the cold chill of the mountain only made the tears more painful for the trainer, as they froze his skin. He reached a hand up to pet the invisible Eon dragon, feeling her small feathers brush against his fingertips.

"Thanks Latias," he whispered, before climbing to his feet, Latias following him as he walked back to his place on the makeshift field. Through the thick snow, Ash desperately scanned the field for any sign of his Pokémon, which there were none.

"Garchomp!" He called into the howling wind, but there was no response. He walked further onto the field, fighting the snow with every step he took, until finally he could see a small pool of something crimson in the snow in front of him.

Ash's stomach did a somersault as he realised what the substance was. He quickly rushed towards the small pool of blood, disturbing thoughts springing to his overactive imagination, and as he neared the crimson liquid, the shape of the land shark began to emerge in his vision; the snow failing to conceal him.

Ash knelt down next to Garchomp, scanning his battered body over for injuries. He watched the rise and fall of his chest, which came as relief to Ash; at least he was still breathing. But where did the blood come from?

He continued rubbing his scaly body, until his fingertips met something wet on Garchomps stomach, which was currently facing the opposite direction to Ash. He peaked his head over the dragon's back to look at his stomach, and saw the source of the wetness.

On the dragon's delicate stomach was a large gash; trickles of blood falling down to the mountain below. It didn't look too serious, but it was cause for concern enough for Ash to pull out some bandages from his bag and seal up the wound.

When he was satisfied, Ash returned Garchomp to his ball, feeling the stab of guilt hit his chest once more; his Pokémon kept getting hurt because of him. No matter how hard he tried, he always failed, and as a result, his Pokémon got hurt.

Shivering from the cold, Ash stood up and scanned the surroundings, spotting the trainer in red and his Blastoise waiting patiently for him, seeming unaffected by the bitter cold and the blinding snow. Glaring, Ash walked back to his original position on the make-shift battlefield, grabbing his next ball.

He was three Pokémon down and this trainer had only lost one, Ash desperately needed to even the score. He was hoping to save his next choice for later, but the harsh reality of his situation made him reconsider. He glanced at the ball in his hand, which seemed to glow as it radiated heat into the surrounding; singeing the trainers hand through his gloves.

'He's eager,' Ash thought as he continued to stare at his next choice, before finally throwing the ball onto the field. A torrent of flames rose into the sky when the ball snapped open, melting the surrounding snow as the bright vortex of fire began to contort and change shape, sprouting wings and a long tail.

Two powerful legs and two stubby arms emerged next, followed by the long neck and the small head. The flames surrounding the creature began to move in the direction of the beasts tail, settling atop the point as the remainder of the flames manifested there. The orange dragon gave a loud roar, sending another tower of flames high into the sky, signalling his presence.

Ash watched the fire and flying type land next to him, smirking eagerly at his opponent; the snow surrounding the beast melting from the extreme body heat being emitted by the dragon like creature. Ash smirked at his next choice, admiring just how eager to battle the Pokémon always was, regardless of weather or setting or opponent, and the warmth radiating from his body came as a welcoming glow to Ash who was feeling the bitter chill of the mountain. He glanced across the field, looking at the blank face of the opposing trainer. His cold gaze chilled Ash even more than the mountain. The raven haired trainer grinned back at the boy, as he confidently stated his next choice.

"Charizard, I choose you."

* * *

Meditation; he had been practising this art for the past several years, constantly in tune with nature. The very earth itself was his mind, and his mind was what saw all and heard all. Being a practise that very few learn, Meditation has become scares in the world, and as a result, people were more aggressive, more violent. People weren't synching their souls to nature, and as a result, left them bitter.

Yet there were still those who were one with nature, and carried a pure heart. Ash Ketchum is one such example. He doesn't need to practise meditation to be in perfect synch with the world, his soul was pure and full; deprived of evil and darkness.

'_It would be more fitting to say his soul WAS deprived of evil and darkness,'_ the psychic type thought to himself. Meditation was a practise that was mastered by the clone Pokémon long ago, being truly one with nature. His mind could see the world. Mewtwo watched each day go by, watching as the world progressed. Every natural disaster, every wave of destruction, every negative action was seen by the psychic, and the recent events upon Mt. Silver were enough to be a cause for concern for the intrigued clone.

For years, he had watched many horrific events destroy people's lives, yet nothing the world ever presented him caused the psychic to become truly fearful. He couldn't remember the last time he ever felt true fear, but the feeling wasn't forgotten. The two trainers atop Mt. Silver instilled fear into the psychic for the first time since his birth; waking up in a completely new world terrified the clone.

He watched as the battle progressed; seeing every move being used, watching both trainers and Pokémon intently. Earlier, he felt a strange wave of power surge through the cave, and the clone was sure that others had felt the shockwave too. Mewtwo watched each Pokémon clash, seeing the sheer amount of energy being emitted from the two Pokémon. But it didn't make sense. Why were they radiating so much energy? No two Pokémon could emit this much power, not even legendaries.

Mewtwo saw as Garchomp charged forward with a powerful Giga Impact, heading straight towards a bright orange Hyper Beam courtesy of Blastoise. The two attacks grew nearer and nearer, and a split second later, his meditation was broken. Mewtwo shrieked in pain as the powerful shockwaves shattered his concentration, surging through his powerful mind and bombarding every nerve present. As quickly as it arrived, the pain left, leaving Mewtwo panting confusedly.

Steadying his breathing, Mewtwo began to concentrate, forcing his mind to take him to Mt. Silver. He saw both trainers clamouring to their feet after enduring such a powerful blast of energy. The psychic could see Garchomp lying unconscious in the snow, whilst Blastoise was wincing in pain after enduring so many attacks. He focused his mind's eye, allowing him to see the invisible eon dragon, who seemed just as disgruntled as Mewtwo. Could she feel the shockwaves too? But if that was true, then maybe others had indeed felt them.

The clone couldn't contain his worry, as he desperately thought about the situation. Both he and Latias were legendaries, and both felt the intense energy surge through their bodies. Was it coincidence, or could other legendaries feel the energy too?

His musings brought him back to the same question: Why was there so much energy coming from two Pokémon? Albeit, they were both powerful Pokémon, but still regular Pokémon. Could the old legend be true? The psychic had heard people speak of a legend involving Mt. Silver, but the psychic dismissed it, deeming those conversations unworthy of his time.

Mewtwo couldn't help but begin to believe the old legend. But if the legend was in fact true, then that would be catastrophic. He made a mental checklist of all the known legendaries and their jobs, sighing when realisation hit him. He focused his mind, searching for three particular auras. It didn't take the powerful psychic type long to find who he was looking for, as his mind picked up all three auras.

What really worried him was where the auras were heading: Mt. Silver. The three Pokémon were heading to the source of his fears, and at this point, the clone knew it wasn't coincidence. Those three Pokémon all felt the same shockwaves, and were going to confront the source of their pain. It was rare those three ever left their dimensions, and on a rare occurrence that they did, it wasn't to have a friendly chat with passers-by. They left their dimensions for one reason: confront the source of their distress, and destroy it.

The three deities were known amongst the legendaries of their viciousness and unwillingness to compromise. He watched as the three dragons continued their flight towards the iconic Mt. Silver, and his nervousness grew even more.

He knew Ash was continuing the battle as time progressed, and Mewtwo hoped that he would finish the fight and leave the mountain before those three found him: the three legendary deities, Dialga, Palkia and Giratina.

* * *

**Okay, so Garchomp is also down for the count. Don't worry, he isn't going to die or anything! **

**A lot of people have been concerned with how the battle is panning out, believing Red to be quite weak. I assure you, he isn't. If you take into consideration several factors, such as the pokemon, their types, the moves, the stats and the trainers battling styles. First off, Pidgeot vs Venusaur. Pidgeot tied with Venusaur, and people are wondering why. Well, fir starters, Pidgeot has a type disadvantage, and the moves she was using were all pretty powerful, such as Sky Attack. Next, if you'll notice just how much damage Venusaur dealt Pidgeot with a single Razor Leaf: Pidgeot had to use Roost several times in that battle just to stay in. Thirdly, Pidgeot launched a lot more attacks compared to Venusaur, meaning she dealt more damage. **

**Now, Tyranitar and Blastoise: Tyranitar lost to Blastoise, but still managed to inflict some damage to him. Garchomp inflicted a lot more damage, but Blastoise is still up and rearing to go. Tyranitar lost due to a type disadvantage, which is why he failed to deal that much damage. Garchomp dealt a lot more damage because of the techniques Ash used, such as his power up with Dragon Pulse. Blastoise still emerged the winner, but is finally beginning to tire out. Blastoise is clearly a really high level, and even though Ash's pokemon are high levels too, they are still under-levelled. They've survived so long thanks to Ash's tactics in the battle. There is a difference between the two trainer's fighting styles, which is even more reason as to why Ash has been doing so well against Red. **

**So next up is Charizard. Will the fire type be able to pull the battle back to Ash's favour? Remember just how much heat this Charizard is packing (pun intended); he has two abilities and has spent the past several years training to be the best Charizard in the world. **

**Yes, I already know exactly how the battle is going to pan out, and I will not be changing my mind. **

***Breathes* rant over, I hope you enjoyed part 3! Part 4 is being written and I will try and get it done as soon as possible. I do have A LOT going on at the moment, so I can't guarantee that it will be done in two weeks, but I will try! Don't worry, I will NOT give up on this story. I will finish it. **

**The plot is finally drawing to a conclusion, and we've seen hints at the possible reason to why there is so much energy being created by two mere pokemon. And what is this legend Mewtwo is concerned about? Keep reading and find out!**

**Anyway, I'm nearing 200 reviews. Help me hit that milestone by reviewing!**

**Until next time!**

**Trainer Theta**


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